Was skimming through headlines and frontpage of TOI when I read this irresponsible quote that shows the brain and independence of a woman celebrity in modern India. Its still wandering somewhere in the back of my mind and driving me crazy!
"Asked whether she would contest the elections if Sanjay Dutt (a star actor) were not able to do so, Manyata (his wife) said, "He has to take the decision. I take permission from him even if I have to go for coffee or dinner with friends. My priority is my family. He will decide if it is right or not right for me."
"
The original article at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Tried_my_best_with_Dutt_sisters_Manyata/articleshow/4013902.cms
Showing posts with label india. Show all posts
Showing posts with label india. Show all posts
Inspirational Research on Desi Entrepreneurs and Moviemakers
So this topic is really funny, exciting and inspirational all at once for me. It started with me reading the news on a personalized google homepage which receives news feeds from 20 different news and business magazines I like. Often I am unable to read all the news that pours on my page, so it was sheer luck that something on fortune.com caught my eye. It was an article on Matchmaking Indian-style which is apparently (I should have known given the affixiation Indians have towards getting married) a 300 million dollar enterprise. At the forefront in the e-form of this emerging industry are 2 websites launched in late 90s, shaadi.com and bharatmatrimony.com both founded by Indian-American entrepreneurs.
With usual curiosity, I started to review Shaadi.com's founder Anupam Mittal's career graph. Interestingly enough, this rather bland and boring blurb on Shaadi.com does not do any justice to the creative dabbler hidden in him. A quick google search revealed that Anupam is none other than the long-haired protagonist Rad and producer of the fun indie flick Flavors. I just saw this movie on DVD a week ago and recommended it to my friends and family :)
This fun fact sparked my interest even further and I went on to review the directors of the movie and what they have been up to. I also looked up Gaurang Vyas and Gaurav Rawal two of the Flavors cast members.
The most fun cast member turned out to be the guy who played my favorite character Kartik in the movie Flavors - Dr. Reef Karim. Now this guy is really something! I am impressed - doctor, actor, model, speaker, professor, social activist...the list seems to be endless. How he manages it all is cool but the fact he is doing more than one thing he is interested in at the same time is supercool and inspirational. Same goes for all the other Flavors cast and crew members, all of whom apparently have a different day job.
This means that there is hope for lazy people like me who aspire to do a million different things (a bunch of which obviously fizzle out). I have now Barack Obama's "Audacity to Hope" that one day I will sincerely vest the time and energy to passionately pursue the few things that make me tick and my life happenning enough to make me happy!
On a filmy and fun note I must be sure to check out this new indie movie Khel Shuru.
With usual curiosity, I started to review Shaadi.com's founder Anupam Mittal's career graph. Interestingly enough, this rather bland and boring blurb on Shaadi.com does not do any justice to the creative dabbler hidden in him. A quick google search revealed that Anupam is none other than the long-haired protagonist Rad and producer of the fun indie flick Flavors. I just saw this movie on DVD a week ago and recommended it to my friends and family :)
This fun fact sparked my interest even further and I went on to review the directors of the movie and what they have been up to. I also looked up Gaurang Vyas and Gaurav Rawal two of the Flavors cast members.
The most fun cast member turned out to be the guy who played my favorite character Kartik in the movie Flavors - Dr. Reef Karim. Now this guy is really something! I am impressed - doctor, actor, model, speaker, professor, social activist...the list seems to be endless. How he manages it all is cool but the fact he is doing more than one thing he is interested in at the same time is supercool and inspirational. Same goes for all the other Flavors cast and crew members, all of whom apparently have a different day job.
This means that there is hope for lazy people like me who aspire to do a million different things (a bunch of which obviously fizzle out). I have now Barack Obama's "Audacity to Hope" that one day I will sincerely vest the time and energy to passionately pursue the few things that make me tick and my life happenning enough to make me happy!
On a filmy and fun note I must be sure to check out this new indie movie Khel Shuru.
Oh My God....Bollywood Maniacs Bury Me :)
I don't know whether I should be happy about this or sad or just outright mad!
I have this quaint silly blog that I write for fun..Its a funky old blog that no one reads! And I like it that way :) http://cynicalthinker.blogspot.com/
Well I just had 600 visitors because some idiot or a computerized crawler posted my silliest and most random rantings on a popular Hindi music site!
http://www.indiafm.com/features/2007/01/15/2091/index.html
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :)
Outcome:
See View My Stats under My Links on the right menu bar...
I hope no more craziness comes out of this topic..I m off to work meetings!
I have this quaint silly blog that I write for fun..Its a funky old blog that no one reads! And I like it that way :) http://cynicalthinker.blogspot
Well I just had 600 visitors because some idiot or a computerized crawler posted my silliest and most random rantings on a popular Hindi music site!
http://www.indiafm.com/features
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :)
Outcome:
See View My Stats under My Links on the right menu bar...
I hope no more craziness comes out of this topic..I m off to work meetings!
No Bollywod for 2007
Just made a New Year resolution....I will not watch any run-of-the-mill Desi aka Hindi aka Bollywood movie till June 2007 at the least! Half a year is a good aim given the number of Indian friends I have, one of whom will surely keep trying to break my resolution.
Why?
- 90% of the new Hindi movies that hit the not-so-cool Naz8 theater in Fremont, CA every Friday night are outright (story/script) spineless, have too many mundane songs and are a 3 hour drag with too much melodrama.
- Emotions and love are an integral part of such highly predictable movies and if that is a subject you don't like you better stay away.
But before I completely right off this billion dollar industry, let me recap the few movies I did see in 2006 and what I thought of them:
Really Bad: Dhoom 2, Don, Phir Hera Pheri, Golmaal, Krrish
Could Have Been Good: Fanaa, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Rang De Basanti, Pyar ke side effects
Awesome: Lage Raho Munnabhai, Omkara, Dor, Iqbal, Being Cyrus, 15 Park Avenue
On a side note, I had thus far a lot of faith in movie reviews/ratings at rottentomatoes but the fact that a movie like Dhoom 2 has a rating of 80% leads me to believe that something is really wrong with the tomatometer. The flip positive side is that Indian movies are also getting listed on this website.
Added: 1/16/2007 11:18 PM
This just in: As if to prove my point the Hollywood Foreign Press had some bad news for Bollywood. Water makes it to Oscar shortlist, Rang De... out
Why?
- 90% of the new Hindi movies that hit the not-so-cool Naz8 theater in Fremont, CA every Friday night are outright (story/script) spineless, have too many mundane songs and are a 3 hour drag with too much melodrama.
- Emotions and love are an integral part of such highly predictable movies and if that is a subject you don't like you better stay away.
But before I completely right off this billion dollar industry, let me recap the few movies I did see in 2006 and what I thought of them:
Really Bad: Dhoom 2, Don, Phir Hera Pheri, Golmaal, Krrish
Could Have Been Good: Fanaa, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Rang De Basanti, Pyar ke side effects
Awesome: Lage Raho Munnabhai, Omkara, Dor, Iqbal, Being Cyrus, 15 Park Avenue
On a side note, I had thus far a lot of faith in movie reviews/ratings at rottentomatoes but the fact that a movie like Dhoom 2 has a rating of 80% leads me to believe that something is really wrong with the tomatometer. The flip positive side is that Indian movies are also getting listed on this website.
Added: 1/16/2007 11:18 PM
This just in: As if to prove my point the Hollywood Foreign Press had some bad news for Bollywood. Water makes it to Oscar shortlist, Rang De... out
Some interesting articles on IBNLIVE
Homemakers make a B-line at IIM-B
You go ladies! Its never too late to learn and get going on fulfilling your dreams :)
Rang de Bizarre
I think I agree with Sagarika Ghose! When will we stop over-dramatizing and glorifying life in Indian movies? Let me leave u with her closing lines:
"Rang De Basanti does a terrible disservice to the nationalism of India's young people. It wilfully paints modern day patriots as unthinking anti-establishment killers. It foolishly creates a myth known as Gen Next which does nothing but drink and dance. And it promotes a leviathan media as the ultimate interpreter of India. The fact that Rang de Basanti is a hit shows just how catastrophically distant we are getting from reality, where we're happy to live from media image to media image, from frame to frame, without realising the depth and profundity of "ordinary" human dramas."
Indian Ocean: The Band with a Big Bang
Sunday night I went to see an Indian band called the "Indian Ocean" perform. This was a bit funny since I tend to go see bands that I like and this one I had never heard of. But a lot of my friends had good things to say about them so I just went. And man was it a good decision or what! A couple of my friends who chickened out did certainly regret doing so once I called each of them to give them my spiel.
The verdict is out: they were great, the crowd loved it. The music was mostly metallic rock mixed with classical Indian table notes and melodic guitar tunes. The lyrics were minimalitsic to say the least but where they did exist, they were great and had deep meaning. After the show, I was quite excited and even went on to meet and greet the band members. Psyched as I was, later in the night I checked out their web presence and history. They are quite well travelled and have had the honor of playing at several prestigious occasions.
Some sparkling fusion, it's Bollywood in the big tent
Gr8 fan site
A Band Apart - Lalitha Suhasini meets Indian Ocean, four men who chose to quit their careers to make music full-time
Reading the News Paper: An old habit comes back to life!
As I kid, reading the newspaper was an activity that I thoroughly enjoyed every Sunday afternoon. During the weekdays, I had school but some how I would manage to skim through the paper in the evening. Just reading the headlines, cartoons, a little bit of jumble and crossword, some sports and the horoscope meant I had done my reading for the day. Sunday afternoon was albeit a whole another experience. I have always been a late night person so early morning (for me) at 6:30 I would hear my dad and mom as they headed out the back door to the verandah/patio to start reading the papers while sipping mugs full of glorious Darjeeling tea. An hour later, my sister would join them and reading, chatting and tea sessions would continue till about 8:30 or 9, which is when I would finally get out of bed. This is also when mom would strategically get up to start cooking breakfast, the maid would arrive and start doing the dishes, the milk man would deliver milk packets to our doorstep and dad would head to the bathroom.
Cool! Now I was free to harass and fight with my sister over the newspaper section or the remote control for the TV. Yohoo! Sunday morning had amazing cartoon and kids shows. Now while I wanted to watch He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, she wanted to watch some fluffy show about mischieveous teenagers living in a boarding school. At the same time, dad after finishing his daily prayer would now seat himself at the dining table and pitch for NEWS (Why do Dads always want to see News of some sort, is it to prove they are older and serious people?). Mom would walk in with the breakfast tray and she would have her own draw but somehow we would all compromise and watch one great show while enjoying Mom's great food! When I was a teenager, I thought all Moms are great cooks and did not appreciate my Mom's culinary skills enough. Today I am humbled by her consistent performance as our chief chef of the house. Her quality and persistence easily match Rahul Dravid, the epitome of consistency in the Indian subcontinent. To get back on track, the only TV shows that we would always agree on as a family without arguing were a live cricket match or the Bournvita Quiz contest.
Further along the day, after throwing 10 tantrums regarding taking a shower, I would enjoy a hearty lunch with my family. This was followed by a Sunday late afternoon siesta for all except me. 2 to 5 in the afternoon were my hours of relaxing while devouring the weekend addition of the Times of India or the Indian Express. This was just awesome. The entire paper to myself, I would read it page by page not leaving a single word or image.
This very personal regimen of spending a Sunday ravising the newspaper was completely stiffled and killed at college where the newspaper freely accessible at my dorm was really bad. Some Sundays I would borrow a friend's personally subscribed Times of India and read it just like old times. Effectively, I have been unable to resume my old habit since 1997. A cool 9 years later, I am backing to reading my old friend - the newspaper every day all thanks to my new roommate who subscribed us to the San Jose Mercury News. I was a teenager then, now an adult; the country and papers are different but its still as much fun as a decade ago. Reading is one of the best habits I have and for that I have to thank my awesome parents! Another set of kudos goes to the newspaper companies for finding innovative business models to keep their papers running despite the ubiquitious presence of free news services online.
Here some very interesting columns from today's San Jose Mercury News:
I loved it. Kinsley is as cynical as it gets! If you don't know the history of US and its politics in the Islamic world this piece gives you an excellent summary of the history as well.
Hey, gang! Now let's go help the Iranians! - By Michael Kinsley
A total contrast to Kinsley's crticisms, this one is full of ideas and optimism and has some great lines on the middle class and its importance in a society.
Saving the middle class requires long-overdue investments - By Don Perata
This is a contemporary article. Makes interesting reading for most of my friends and peers from Generation MTV. Long distance relationships (LDRs) are a reality and we might as well acclimitize ourselves.
Six ways to help make a long-distance relationship work
And finally to top it all of, the frontpage for Life & Style section of the paper talks about Sikhism, one of the youngest religions in the world which originated in Punjab, India and how Sikhs in the Bay Area celebrated their Spring festival "Baisakhi" at the Gurudwara (temple) in Fremont this weekend as Christians celebrated Easter.
Sikhs celebrate renewal of faith - By Kimra McPherson
Happy Baisakhi to All!
Cool! Now I was free to harass and fight with my sister over the newspaper section or the remote control for the TV. Yohoo! Sunday morning had amazing cartoon and kids shows. Now while I wanted to watch He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, she wanted to watch some fluffy show about mischieveous teenagers living in a boarding school. At the same time, dad after finishing his daily prayer would now seat himself at the dining table and pitch for NEWS (Why do Dads always want to see News of some sort, is it to prove they are older and serious people?). Mom would walk in with the breakfast tray and she would have her own draw but somehow we would all compromise and watch one great show while enjoying Mom's great food! When I was a teenager, I thought all Moms are great cooks and did not appreciate my Mom's culinary skills enough. Today I am humbled by her consistent performance as our chief chef of the house. Her quality and persistence easily match Rahul Dravid, the epitome of consistency in the Indian subcontinent. To get back on track, the only TV shows that we would always agree on as a family without arguing were a live cricket match or the Bournvita Quiz contest.
Further along the day, after throwing 10 tantrums regarding taking a shower, I would enjoy a hearty lunch with my family. This was followed by a Sunday late afternoon siesta for all except me. 2 to 5 in the afternoon were my hours of relaxing while devouring the weekend addition of the Times of India or the Indian Express. This was just awesome. The entire paper to myself, I would read it page by page not leaving a single word or image.
This very personal regimen of spending a Sunday ravising the newspaper was completely stiffled and killed at college where the newspaper freely accessible at my dorm was really bad. Some Sundays I would borrow a friend's personally subscribed Times of India and read it just like old times. Effectively, I have been unable to resume my old habit since 1997. A cool 9 years later, I am backing to reading my old friend - the newspaper every day all thanks to my new roommate who subscribed us to the San Jose Mercury News. I was a teenager then, now an adult; the country and papers are different but its still as much fun as a decade ago. Reading is one of the best habits I have and for that I have to thank my awesome parents! Another set of kudos goes to the newspaper companies for finding innovative business models to keep their papers running despite the ubiquitious presence of free news services online.
Here some very interesting columns from today's San Jose Mercury News:
I loved it. Kinsley is as cynical as it gets! If you don't know the history of US and its politics in the Islamic world this piece gives you an excellent summary of the history as well.
Hey, gang! Now let's go help the Iranians! - By Michael Kinsley
A total contrast to Kinsley's crticisms, this one is full of ideas and optimism and has some great lines on the middle class and its importance in a society.
Saving the middle class requires long-overdue investments - By Don Perata
This is a contemporary article. Makes interesting reading for most of my friends and peers from Generation MTV. Long distance relationships (LDRs) are a reality and we might as well acclimitize ourselves.
Six ways to help make a long-distance relationship work
And finally to top it all of, the frontpage for Life & Style section of the paper talks about Sikhism, one of the youngest religions in the world which originated in Punjab, India and how Sikhs in the Bay Area celebrated their Spring festival "Baisakhi" at the Gurudwara (temple) in Fremont this weekend as Christians celebrated Easter.
Sikhs celebrate renewal of faith - By Kimra McPherson
Happy Baisakhi to All!
Information Overload: I need a Google NextGen
Have you ever felt that you have too much information floating in your head that you need to somehow store before you lose it all....I have had that sinking feeling one too many times in the last few years...Books and television give us ample amount of time to view and digest information. Its not the same with the web though. Google news, other news sites, emails, forwards, blogs, feeds, text messages, email lists, newspapers, magazines and their online versions have made this a world of information overload for some of us. Sometimes I am amazed that my brain does not fall in to an endless loop or a data overrun error and crash much like a computer.
To top of all the previously cited information sources, we also have the MOTHER of all Google. My plea and request to the millionaires @ Google is to stop enhancing the search methods, yes we all love information, who doesn't? But what we need now is Google NextGen, the information search engine that also synthesizes and summarizes it so that our brain and eyes have to deal with only the most important details not the Holy Grail on any given topic.
Now that I have that one out of my stomach, I am amazed at how much has happenned this week in my boring and dull life. I have learned and experienced a lot in a few days and it would be simply stupid not to write and retain it.
Started this week with the never ending saga of my life: To be or not to be? Background: I can't live with or without you! However, thats not the interesting part. Instead of indulging in self analysis I found energy and insights from outsiders.
1. Jerry Lo, a senior at Evergreen High School @ San Jose wrote in the Mercury News:
"
Fellow members of the ``MySpace generation,'' please listen to me. It may be a few years away, but before you pop the question or say ``I do,'' think about what you are getting yourself into.
When you get married you'll vow to be with that person ``through sickness and health,'' and, ``till death do us part.'' Let's try to understand our vows before we say them.
Do we want our children to have to live through the trauma of divorce? Do we really want our children to grow up with single parents?
"
These are some intelligent words from a young adult that we all can learn from.
Read Jerry's views @
When marriages crumble, children suffer
2. Next, by a chance skipping of channels I landed upon Discovery Travel at primetime 9 pm and found an amazing show Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime. Jeremy Piven is this real cute and funny guy you must have noticed for sure in John Cusack movie Serendipity, HBO series Entourage and a bunch of theatre plays. His journey is to India and no its not amazing because he went to India. The show is not your routine sight-seeing travel guide. Its a very personal journey that Jeremey lives out in his own style. He walks the streets of Delhi and Bombay, does yoga in Kerala, Himalayas and Hrishikesh; drives a Kinetic Honda moped in Southern India, rides a cycle rickshaw in Paharganj, Delhi and glides on a smooth water boat on the backwaters in Kerala. He enjoys his time at an orphanage in Mumbai, is consummed with appreciation for the Kathakali dancers who put peppers in their eyes to maintain red eyes matching their face colors during the dance performance and is agog with anxiety as he watches the wild monkeys at Lakshman Jhula in northern India. He found his personal connection in the form of an old Jewish lady who enjoys her small Jewish community in Kerala, the Kathakali dancer who had shared the same teacher as Jeremy at some NY acting school and a Sadhvi (holy woman/priest) of American origin who came to India 12 years back as a visitor and found her calling as a priest in India. The real deal were the pearls of wisdom Jeremy gleaned from a swamiji in Hrishikesh:
- Look at people around you, every one is trying to get their life back together, its all scattered in pieces......Look for peace inside you...you want peace in your life, not pieces!
- I as its written in English is a vertical bar, a a symbol of ego and the idea of self and selfishness. If you think as I you will always be unhappy...Try to bend your I from a vertical bar to a horizontal bar. Its akin to bending forwards and giving in to people and life. Thats where lies happinness: in bending, not in holding yourself straight up.
More learning about real life continues in the next blogging streak...
To top of all the previously cited information sources, we also have the MOTHER of all Google. My plea and request to the millionaires @ Google is to stop enhancing the search methods, yes we all love information, who doesn't? But what we need now is Google NextGen, the information search engine that also synthesizes and summarizes it so that our brain and eyes have to deal with only the most important details not the Holy Grail on any given topic.
Now that I have that one out of my stomach, I am amazed at how much has happenned this week in my boring and dull life. I have learned and experienced a lot in a few days and it would be simply stupid not to write and retain it.
Started this week with the never ending saga of my life: To be or not to be? Background: I can't live with or without you! However, thats not the interesting part. Instead of indulging in self analysis I found energy and insights from outsiders.
1. Jerry Lo, a senior at Evergreen High School @ San Jose wrote in the Mercury News:
"
Fellow members of the ``MySpace generation,'' please listen to me. It may be a few years away, but before you pop the question or say ``I do,'' think about what you are getting yourself into.
When you get married you'll vow to be with that person ``through sickness and health,'' and, ``till death do us part.'' Let's try to understand our vows before we say them.
Do we want our children to have to live through the trauma of divorce? Do we really want our children to grow up with single parents?
"
These are some intelligent words from a young adult that we all can learn from.
Read Jerry's views @
When marriages crumble, children suffer
2. Next, by a chance skipping of channels I landed upon Discovery Travel at primetime 9 pm and found an amazing show Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime. Jeremy Piven is this real cute and funny guy you must have noticed for sure in John Cusack movie Serendipity, HBO series Entourage and a bunch of theatre plays. His journey is to India and no its not amazing because he went to India. The show is not your routine sight-seeing travel guide. Its a very personal journey that Jeremey lives out in his own style. He walks the streets of Delhi and Bombay, does yoga in Kerala, Himalayas and Hrishikesh; drives a Kinetic Honda moped in Southern India, rides a cycle rickshaw in Paharganj, Delhi and glides on a smooth water boat on the backwaters in Kerala. He enjoys his time at an orphanage in Mumbai, is consummed with appreciation for the Kathakali dancers who put peppers in their eyes to maintain red eyes matching their face colors during the dance performance and is agog with anxiety as he watches the wild monkeys at Lakshman Jhula in northern India. He found his personal connection in the form of an old Jewish lady who enjoys her small Jewish community in Kerala, the Kathakali dancer who had shared the same teacher as Jeremy at some NY acting school and a Sadhvi (holy woman/priest) of American origin who came to India 12 years back as a visitor and found her calling as a priest in India. The real deal were the pearls of wisdom Jeremy gleaned from a swamiji in Hrishikesh:
- Look at people around you, every one is trying to get their life back together, its all scattered in pieces......Look for peace inside you...you want peace in your life, not pieces!
- I as its written in English is a vertical bar, a a symbol of ego and the idea of self and selfishness. If you think as I you will always be unhappy...Try to bend your I from a vertical bar to a horizontal bar. Its akin to bending forwards and giving in to people and life. Thats where lies happinness: in bending, not in holding yourself straight up.
More learning about real life continues in the next blogging streak...
The future of Indian Cinema aka BOLLYWOOD
Driving down at 80 mph from LA to San Diego my mind was totally focused on the functioning or rather mal-functioning of the Indian Cinema aka Bollywood, this after watching a couple of the popular Koffee with Karan Johar episodes!
While King Khan SRK, Big B and Hrithik Roshan were all happily chatting about their past and present on the show my thought process was hoping for some visions for the future from the superstars.
What lies ahead ?
Why is it that producers are willing to spend zillions of dollars in shooting on location in UK/US for masala movies but not in INNOVATIVE SCRIPTS...
And then there are others like Aishwarya Rai, Om Puri, Shekhar Kapur who tried dabbling in British and American productions....
WHY ISN'T SOMEONE trying to make quality films in India for viewers worldwide and by that I just don't mean Indians worldwide...
If European movies like Amelie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Asian movies like Stephen Chow's KUNG FU HUSTLE can be distributed and marketed by SONY, Miramax, etc. why can't India produce quality movies for the world population...
India lacks no talent or resources in any field whatsoever..
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050418/ts_afp/afplifestyleusfilmindia_050418174712
With specific context to this article where Mr. Amitabh Bachchan talks about racial stereotyping which is why he claims he never set his eyes on Hollywood, I would like to question him if Hollywood did not welcome him with any offers why didn't he make the typical Hindi movie all with the song-dance sequences but with a strong story line for a global audience...It really pains my heart to see a talented actor like Mr. Bachchan copying AL PACINO from SCARFACE in his vastly successfully AGNIPATH! Why couldn't it be vice versa ? Why don't we make original movies ? Why copy the West ?
While India is finally proving its mettle in the areas of science, technology and business I don't see why Indian authors, actors, directors and producers cannot create a new era of Indian cinema for the world to see and admire.
This should be a challenge that an ambitious star actor and businessman Shahrukh Khan (who apparently does not have an official website :) ) who has it all: the influence, work experience and big bucks; should strive for. There is nothing more left for him to achieve in India than scale new heights of global success, fame and wealth. I don't know how Shahrukh Khan motivates himself to keep doing the samething day in and out without any new challenges in life ? Shouldn't the new generation of BOLLYWOOD try to make a real difference in how the world perceives India today - as a nation of 1 billion smart, beautiful and diverse people not just as a land of snake charmers!
If Sabeer Bhatia could create a new phenomenon called HOTMAIL for the world to use can't we dare have an INDIAN CINEMA for the WORLD AS WELL ?
While King Khan SRK, Big B and Hrithik Roshan were all happily chatting about their past and present on the show my thought process was hoping for some visions for the future from the superstars.
What lies ahead ?
Why is it that producers are willing to spend zillions of dollars in shooting on location in UK/US for masala movies but not in INNOVATIVE SCRIPTS...
And then there are others like Aishwarya Rai, Om Puri, Shekhar Kapur who tried dabbling in British and American productions....
WHY ISN'T SOMEONE trying to make quality films in India for viewers worldwide and by that I just don't mean Indians worldwide...
If European movies like Amelie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Asian movies like Stephen Chow's KUNG FU HUSTLE can be distributed and marketed by SONY, Miramax, etc. why can't India produce quality movies for the world population...
India lacks no talent or resources in any field whatsoever..
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050418/ts_afp/afplifestyleusfilmindia_050418174712
With specific context to this article where Mr. Amitabh Bachchan talks about racial stereotyping which is why he claims he never set his eyes on Hollywood, I would like to question him if Hollywood did not welcome him with any offers why didn't he make the typical Hindi movie all with the song-dance sequences but with a strong story line for a global audience...It really pains my heart to see a talented actor like Mr. Bachchan copying AL PACINO from SCARFACE in his vastly successfully AGNIPATH! Why couldn't it be vice versa ? Why don't we make original movies ? Why copy the West ?
While India is finally proving its mettle in the areas of science, technology and business I don't see why Indian authors, actors, directors and producers cannot create a new era of Indian cinema for the world to see and admire.
This should be a challenge that an ambitious star actor and businessman Shahrukh Khan (who apparently does not have an official website :) ) who has it all: the influence, work experience and big bucks; should strive for. There is nothing more left for him to achieve in India than scale new heights of global success, fame and wealth. I don't know how Shahrukh Khan motivates himself to keep doing the samething day in and out without any new challenges in life ? Shouldn't the new generation of BOLLYWOOD try to make a real difference in how the world perceives India today - as a nation of 1 billion smart, beautiful and diverse people not just as a land of snake charmers!
If Sabeer Bhatia could create a new phenomenon called HOTMAIL for the world to use can't we dare have an INDIAN CINEMA for the WORLD AS WELL ?
Blame India & Stuff
Alright! Came across this Blame India Watch blog and am immediately hooked on it..Must read from now....http://blameindiawatch.blogspot.com/
My blog has pretty much gone to the dogs what with blog frequency and visitor activity down to zilch! Must find more time for blogging! Well with the way life has been going on, kinda boringly phasing away, a whole year may pass before I realize one more year of life is over and done with. It has been kind of a drag the last few months, just work, TV, movies and dinners; none social enriching activities either :) Must take more control of life and find time to exercise, read, write and blog apart from the house maintenance chores and the usual office routine!
Last few days have been unusually very tough on me for no good reason. Unecessary complications made work more exhausting than need be and lead to a bunch of late nights which in effect leads to a sell fulfilling cycle of frustrating events. To further my anxiety, I have been getting injured every single day of this week due to some odd reason. I know have 5 bandaids holding me together :)
Yesterday was the mother of fast paced, and a maddening surreal amount of work filled day. The whole day left me in a foul mood by the time I left work at 10 pm and the only thing that cheered me for a couple of minutes was the comedy of Ray Romano and Ashton Kutcher's candid interview on David Lettermn's Late show.
My blog has pretty much gone to the dogs what with blog frequency and visitor activity down to zilch! Must find more time for blogging! Well with the way life has been going on, kinda boringly phasing away, a whole year may pass before I realize one more year of life is over and done with. It has been kind of a drag the last few months, just work, TV, movies and dinners; none social enriching activities either :) Must take more control of life and find time to exercise, read, write and blog apart from the house maintenance chores and the usual office routine!
Last few days have been unusually very tough on me for no good reason. Unecessary complications made work more exhausting than need be and lead to a bunch of late nights which in effect leads to a sell fulfilling cycle of frustrating events. To further my anxiety, I have been getting injured every single day of this week due to some odd reason. I know have 5 bandaids holding me together :)
Yesterday was the mother of fast paced, and a maddening surreal amount of work filled day. The whole day left me in a foul mood by the time I left work at 10 pm and the only thing that cheered me for a couple of minutes was the comedy of Ray Romano and Ashton Kutcher's candid interview on David Lettermn's Late show.
The Ideal Day! Was it really?
In some ways today was an ideal day. Well not at first, not really. I got up late as usual and rushed away to work. Work was okay: relaxed as well as fast paced as it should be. Learnt some lessons in life via deliberations and interactions with people. Thereafter, for once I left work early and hurray I went to the gym. This was a long awaited beginning of sorts. I knew I needed to exercise once I had realised that I wasn't snoring through the night. Perhaps I was getting mentally tired but not physically....Or is it perhaps that I sleep better on the left side of the bed and not on the right....
The next big surprise of the day was that after an hour's workout I felt revived and superb. I came home, relaxed for a few minutues, put on some music and then did the bit that I have been avoiding forever: cooking some good food. Its not that in the last 2 months I haven't cooked dinner. I have several times but definitely not as regularly as I would prefer! The most important part is that today for the first time I cooked the way I like to with great interest and with my heart. For the last few months I guess that hadn't happenned. I was so tired and so angry all the time that enjoying the process of cooking dinner for myself was never a priority....
So ya that boring chain of events has come to an end....From now on every day is going to be even more sunny and full of energy filled activities.
Wasn't this like an ideal day: me doing every regular thing that I should always do but never end up doing?
Not ideal for some other reasons: did not sleep early, did not bathe in the morning and did get mad at someone who tried to bully me.
Okay enough about me! Here are some great news items that caught my eye today. First the funny one with real serious implications::
All you guys out there, are you ready for this piece of information?
Laptops 'a threat to male fertility'
OKay so this is serious business: Guys might need to change their computing habits to maintain good health.
The next funny bit comes courtesy my very own Desh i.e. India....Cellular providers in India are now providing subscribers a new service that allows them to view a movie on their EDGE technology configured cell phones...Isn't this funny ? Okay ya so if you can't get tickets to a movie that's sold out and you can't wait for the DVD to come out, you just watch it on your small screen on your mobile phone...
Indian Movie to Debut on Cell Phones
After all this fun stuff how about appreciating a real nice deed done by a man I really look up to for his work, life and passion for persuasion. He is none other than noted Venture Capitalist Vinod Khosla who donated money for addition of educational resources to his alma mater Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Vinod Khosla's $5-million grant for IIT
Okay last funny bit for the night:
Catherine Zeta Jones tells Jay Leno on the Tonight Show that its amazing what people believe! She was saying that people have actually come up to her and asked her about T-Mobile pricing plans and their 1-800 number. And she was like "Can you believe it? I have literally had to tell people that I just say "T-Mobile Get More"..I don't know anything else about them..."
The next big surprise of the day was that after an hour's workout I felt revived and superb. I came home, relaxed for a few minutues, put on some music and then did the bit that I have been avoiding forever: cooking some good food. Its not that in the last 2 months I haven't cooked dinner. I have several times but definitely not as regularly as I would prefer! The most important part is that today for the first time I cooked the way I like to with great interest and with my heart. For the last few months I guess that hadn't happenned. I was so tired and so angry all the time that enjoying the process of cooking dinner for myself was never a priority....
So ya that boring chain of events has come to an end....From now on every day is going to be even more sunny and full of energy filled activities.
Wasn't this like an ideal day: me doing every regular thing that I should always do but never end up doing?
Not ideal for some other reasons: did not sleep early, did not bathe in the morning and did get mad at someone who tried to bully me.
Okay enough about me! Here are some great news items that caught my eye today. First the funny one with real serious implications::
All you guys out there, are you ready for this piece of information?
Laptops 'a threat to male fertility'
OKay so this is serious business: Guys might need to change their computing habits to maintain good health.
The next funny bit comes courtesy my very own Desh i.e. India....Cellular providers in India are now providing subscribers a new service that allows them to view a movie on their EDGE technology configured cell phones...Isn't this funny ? Okay ya so if you can't get tickets to a movie that's sold out and you can't wait for the DVD to come out, you just watch it on your small screen on your mobile phone...
Indian Movie to Debut on Cell Phones
After all this fun stuff how about appreciating a real nice deed done by a man I really look up to for his work, life and passion for persuasion. He is none other than noted Venture Capitalist Vinod Khosla who donated money for addition of educational resources to his alma mater Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Vinod Khosla's $5-million grant for IIT
Okay last funny bit for the night:
Catherine Zeta Jones tells Jay Leno on the Tonight Show that its amazing what people believe! She was saying that people have actually come up to her and asked her about T-Mobile pricing plans and their 1-800 number. And she was like "Can you believe it? I have literally had to tell people that I just say "T-Mobile Get More"..I don't know anything else about them..."
The Ambani Wars :: Reality TV :: Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki !!
One fine day when one of the Indian cable channels ZEE TV presented a comedy soap called HUM PAANCH who knew that history was being created. Promoted by the then 19 year old Ekta Kapoor, daughter of the renowned Jeetandra, a moviestar, the soap hit all time records for TRP ratings and ran on for 5 straight years..This was a loud but enjoyable comedy show about a couple raising 4 young and independent daughters in Bombay!
Then came those years where the letter K and Balaji Telefilms impounded us with one after another soap about family drama and what not...The very superstitious Ekta continued to rampage all the channels now with her newer soaps...She alone became responsbile for the success of so many new comers: actors/actresses/writers/directors on the tube that had more than half the country glued to their sofas.....
For more information on this topic refer to:
http://www.balajifilms.com/corporate/ekta.htm
http://www.balajitelefilms.com/tvs_h.htm
While these serials were coming out at rapid speeds akin to bullets fired left and right in Kill BILL, the Indian crowd slowly started getting bored with the same old story, same faces, day in and out....A bunch of taglines and jokes came out on the SAAS-BAAHU serials.....By the way SAAS means MOTHER-IN-LAW and BAAHU means DAUGHTER-IN-LAW in Hindi....So you can imagine that these serials were something like the ever-meddling Marie from Everybody Loves Raymond who keeps messing with her daughter-in-law Debra...But the similarities end just there...While Ray and his whole family try to get us laughing, the sordid tell tales of the Balaji "K" serials made you cry and feel sad.....
Anyways, I found them to be such a drag...and once in a while when I did watch them the whole concept struck as stupid and funny to me....
But why tirade so much about EKTA today...Well, the same SAAS_BAAHU story is today coming true in modern India..The biggest conglomerate in India called RELIANCE INDUSTRIES is today facing a similar situation as we have seen for ages....2 brothers fighting over the big Billion dollar business legacy that their late Dad left them....
Isn't it funny and amzing how the reel drama has come alive for real ?
Very interesting articles over the Reliance Ownership Issue :
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4136,78814,00.html
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?hpFlag=Y&chklogin=N&autono=174575&leftnm=lmnu1&lselect=0&leftindx=1
Who should be the knighted king ? Mukesh or Anil ? Should they split ? After all their professionalism and higher education they have still come down to the same old Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki or for that matter Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi!!!!
Reliance :: What a company ! Ambanis :: What brotherly love ?!
Then came those years where the letter K and Balaji Telefilms impounded us with one after another soap about family drama and what not...The very superstitious Ekta continued to rampage all the channels now with her newer soaps...She alone became responsbile for the success of so many new comers: actors/actresses/writers/directors on the tube that had more than half the country glued to their sofas.....
For more information on this topic refer to:
http://www.balajifilms.com/corporate/ekta.htm
http://www.balajitelefilms.com/tvs_h.htm
While these serials were coming out at rapid speeds akin to bullets fired left and right in Kill BILL, the Indian crowd slowly started getting bored with the same old story, same faces, day in and out....A bunch of taglines and jokes came out on the SAAS-BAAHU serials.....By the way SAAS means MOTHER-IN-LAW and BAAHU means DAUGHTER-IN-LAW in Hindi....So you can imagine that these serials were something like the ever-meddling Marie from Everybody Loves Raymond who keeps messing with her daughter-in-law Debra...But the similarities end just there...While Ray and his whole family try to get us laughing, the sordid tell tales of the Balaji "K" serials made you cry and feel sad.....
Anyways, I found them to be such a drag...and once in a while when I did watch them the whole concept struck as stupid and funny to me....
But why tirade so much about EKTA today...Well, the same SAAS_BAAHU story is today coming true in modern India..The biggest conglomerate in India called RELIANCE INDUSTRIES is today facing a similar situation as we have seen for ages....2 brothers fighting over the big Billion dollar business legacy that their late Dad left them....
Isn't it funny and amzing how the reel drama has come alive for real ?
Very interesting articles over the Reliance Ownership Issue :
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4136,78814,00.html
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?hpFlag=Y&chklogin=N&autono=174575&leftnm=lmnu1&lselect=0&leftindx=1
Who should be the knighted king ? Mukesh or Anil ? Should they split ? After all their professionalism and higher education they have still come down to the same old Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki or for that matter Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi!!!!
Reliance :: What a company ! Ambanis :: What brotherly love ?!
Be Proud to be an Indian :: JAI HIND!
Here is a superb presentation on India, its culture heritage, history and contribution to the world. It makes you feel nice and proud to be born as an Indian! Not that I wasn't a proud Indian before seeing this..But this is just great! Check this out folks..
http://www.geocities.com/upasu/India.pps
http://www.geocities.com/upasu/India.pps
‘Bhajji ka har bhajan dhyan se suno!’
indian satire: discard dead weights
For your regular but hilarious cricket update be sure to check this one out!
For your regular but hilarious cricket update be sure to check this one out!
Special trains to promote condoms, fight AIDS
Special trains to promote condoms, fight AIDS
What an innovative idea? How well it will work I don't know but hey its an idea...It will do something! Better than doing nothing about this tremendous looming disaster waiting to happen...India, China and Thailand are leading the race for maximum AIDS victims..With 1 billion people its no surprise that India is headed to win this race..But this is one race we shouldn't be wanting to win...Not only is it disastrous but the HIV virus has a multiplicative effect and the faster our Health ministry realises this and does something about it the better....
Baby steps are fine at least they are steps in the right direction: to increase AIDS awareness.
What an innovative idea? How well it will work I don't know but hey its an idea...It will do something! Better than doing nothing about this tremendous looming disaster waiting to happen...India, China and Thailand are leading the race for maximum AIDS victims..With 1 billion people its no surprise that India is headed to win this race..But this is one race we shouldn't be wanting to win...Not only is it disastrous but the HIV virus has a multiplicative effect and the faster our Health ministry realises this and does something about it the better....
Baby steps are fine at least they are steps in the right direction: to increase AIDS awareness.
CROSSING THE LINES: KASHMIR, PAKISTAN, INDIA
Jammu &Kashmir Map (Copyright MSNBC)
Ironically, Kashmir was once called the Crown of India. As you can see the Crown is no more, on the right side China took a bite and on the left Pakistan took a share..And now the fight continues as Pakistan is vying for the India controlled Kashmir...
Last Saturday evening, I went to watch the screening of this documentary on Kashmir -CROSSING THE LINES: KASHMIR, PAKISTAN, INDIA at Stanford. The movie is made by a Pakistani physicist and tries to potray the story from both sides: India and Pakistan.
Before the film was screened some people gave talks on the Kashmir situation including an international security analyst who shared his ideas on why the West had easily ignored the Kashmir issue for years and how nuclear proliferation in South Asia had increased violence in the valley and led to the Kargil war. Then there was this Muslim female from Kashmir now settled in the US who talked about her first hand horrendous experiences during terrorism. I completely sympathized with her when she talked about the uncertain life and the Indian Army's acts against human rights. However, I found it hard to maintain objectivity when she said that the then J&K Governor Jagmohan had on purpose shipped out all Kashmiri Hindus (aka Pandits) out of the Kashmir Valley to Jammu so that the Army could backlash on the Muslims.
Here again I must state I might be wrong and might be losing my sense of objectivity as this is a topic that cuts straight to my heart. As a Kashmiri Hindu who never permanently lived in Kashmir I try not to make claims of first hand experience. Yet I am often reminded of personal losses on the same account and it is difficult to digest others' claims when facts are strangled conveniently.
To modestly say that militancy broke out and the very next day we saw all our Hindu friends and teachers at school were gone..they had fled from Kashmir and then in the same vein to say that this was done to ease the Army's lashing on the Muslims---is a gross mistake. One who is pained by experiencing violence must also realize that to leave one'e luxurious home, friends, relatives, businesses and fleeing away in a single night with only 1 pair of clothes and to start living from the next day in a shady camp with no access to bank accounts/money, food, clothing as well as basic amenities such as bathrooms, electricity is by no means a joke and 50,000+ Kashmiri Hindus would not accept this kind of fate if they had any other option. Most Kashmiri Pandits (henceforth KPs) fled Kashmir during a span of 1 week in trucks that left Srinagar at night and reached Jammu by morning and they did so because they had seen enough of their family and friends die and the then Indian Government was doing a pretty good job of neglecting their plight.
Anyways, coming back to the movie...The documentary had a lot of footage on the Pakistani side arguably, it was more accessible..The views portayed in the movie went from fundamentalist to moderate to liberal depending on the people interviewed....Various chronological events that brought us to Kashmir today were brought up....
A little debate can be facilitated on this issue yet, opening a Pandora's box is not a sound thing to do...The movie explained especially to the viewers of non South-Asian origin or otherwise ignorant that the Kashmir conflicted started because once Kashmir was incorporated as an Indian State the more educated KPs who also had higher economic stature dominated the state and oppressed the Muslims. This is in fact considered to be a major cause of the resentment borne by Kashmiri Muslims that later took on stronger names such as Jihadis and Revolutionaries. This in it self can be questioned ?? Starting with 1970s, there were widespread reservation policies setup for facilitating the education and employment of the Muslims in Kashmir. By this time although Muslims were protected by these reservation policies for a so called minority, the Muslims were in fact the majority in the region....Why these policies did not help? Because Kashmir due to its geography offered more business opportunities in the area of tourism and horticulture and far less academic and other jobs...While the KPs historically more inclined towards education (even the word Pandit means "one who is scholarly") fairly migrated to other parts of India for education and jobs the Muslims preferred to stay back in the Valley and pursue businesses....Many of the Muslims still were in the lower economic bracket as they continued to strive away from the Goverment's family planning initiatives and had larger families to support...Yet there wasn't much terrorism in the Valley then.....Most of the pro-Paksitani sentiment and the resentment feelings were inculcated in the Muslims in the late 1980s by the so called political activists turned terrorists who in the name of "Allah" started a bitter cycle of violence targeted towards the KPs...
In my mind again the movie does a poor job of explaining how Jihadis turned up in such large numbers all of a sudden...The ISI backed activities are considered a thing of the past..It is an important fact of the history of Kashmir that initially many Muslim youth were forced to become terrorists once they were kidnapped and taken across the border to traning camps in Pakistan....
Despite the bi-partisan view that the movie tries to present it was hard for me not to cry on watching the gut wrenching footage..At the same time I was disgusted by the taste of the people watching the movie who clapped at various instances at the mass blood bath footage shown..Appreciating a director is something but how people can laugh and clap at real people dying is beyond me..
At the end there was a long Q&A session which I sat through completely...As well known and insightful Mr. Hoodbhoy maybe his answers were less than satisfactory in many cases...For instance, a US based Pakistani gentleman asked him why when suggesting resolutions to the Kashmir problem everybody looked at it from a religious point of view..Why not a nationalistic point view, implying that if India were to grant Kashmir independence as a country India would be faced by similar circumstances in Assam, Punjab and ....Mr. Hoodbhoy answered that living in Kashmir it was impossible not to be religious minded- you had to take a side in order to exist..and saying that religion should not be a part of the equation would be unrealistic..while that maybe true it is also a fact that if India were to make an exception and give up Kashmir the entire political system in India would collapse....As incorrigible and incompetent our Government might be, its no simple feat to manage a country this diverse in religion, culture, language, what not...
While as an ex-Kashmiri inhabitant I wish that peace would prevail and normalcy were to come back in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, in the near future that does not seem to be happenning...
I still miss Srinagar, Dal Lake, Habbakadal, Gulmarg, Pahelgam, Patnitop and pray that my Dad's wish of retiring back in the solace of his home in Srinagar comes true. Sometimes I wonder at what cost ?? Just in terms of human life so much has been lost in Kashmir and that includes civilians, Jihadis and the Indian Army...Then there is also billions of money burnt on the defence action forces in the Valley since the last 15 years and after all this what is left...A blood stained region, with the economy worth zero, the natural treasures destroyed and nobody wanting to live there....
To the common Indian, Pakistani or world citizen Kashmir is a forgotten story! To some its a daily keyword in the Indian newspapers with the just the number of deaths changing everyday....To some its the World...Hopefully the glory of Maij (Kashmiri for 'Mother') Kashmir will be restored someday...God Bless the people of Kashmir!
Background on the film & director:
http://www.ektaonline.org/~friendso/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4201688/
Some Other Reviews:
http://www.jammu-kashmir.com/archives/archives2004/kashmir20040511b.html
http://hasbrouck.org/blog/archives/000312.html
Some sites with information and insights on the Kashmir issue:
Disclaimer: I have not read all the articles on these sites and do not endorse any/all of the information published.
http://ikashmir.org/Refugees/index.html
http://www.panunkashmir.org/index.html http://www.zackvision.com/weblog/archives/kashmir/index.html
http://www.indianet.nl/indpak51.html
http://www.mindspring.com/~akhila_raman/
Kashmir :: Will it ever be the same again ??
This is a question my Dad and I ponder a lot..Albeit most Kashmiri Pandits (the Indian community that had to relocate from Kashmir completely in wake of terrorism) I guess will ask themselves this question several times in this lifetime....
To me definitely there is hope....maybe a minute possibility that one day Kashmir will be restored to the peaceful beautiful land it once was... It was described in all my geography and history books as the "Heaven on Earth" or the "Crown of India"...I remember everytime I read that I would feel so proud that I belonged to that enchanting part of India...Kashmir Valley so serene, so clean and so naturally beautiful....the lakes, mountains, the apple orchards....It really was Heaven and I absolutely loved every part of Kashmir.....
This is the Kashmir that I have lost in life and in memories...Today I try to avoid thinking about Kashmir because when I do it doesn't bring back these sweet childhood memories but it brings with it the horrror, the evil scent of blood that has been constantly flowing in Kashmir since the lates 1980s....One single day hasn't passed in the last 15 years when at least 15 people did not die in Kashmir either civilians and/or army men or terrorists...Who dies doesn't really matter...Its everyday last line news on the frontpage of every published newspaper...Who cares ?? Do people in India care ?? Do people in the world care ?? I don't know !
I find it hard to believe that its been 15 years since the last time our family was in Srinagar, the city where my parents were born and lived half their lives.....I still remember it was October 1989 and we were just getting off a bus at the Srinagar bus stand..While we were still unloading our luggage my cousin brother who was there to greet us was ready with a cab and was hurriedly trying to get us out of the main bus stand area...While our taxi was whizzing out into the narrow streets close to the bus stand, we heard a 'boom a whoom' sound...Lo and behold it was a bomb blast..It was the 3rd in one single day and more than half the city was under curfew......While we reached home safely my cousin gave us the latest run down on the militancy situation et al...My Dad has a large family and all of his brothers and sisters and cousins and their families had gathered at our ancestral house that week for my cousin sister's marriage..It was a happy occasion and amidst all the curfews and bomb blasts and the hail storm it was the last most eventful real Kashmiri wedding in our family..In typical Kashmiri fashion it lasted 7 complete days and we all had a blast...It was fun man..the good food, the great music...awesome....
Anyways, after digression let me get back to the topic in question :: what now happens of Kashmir:: Well the practical mind says nothing much can happen...Most of Kashmir is now inhabited by Muslims who per se want to be a part of Pakistan; and hence, there is no real reason to hold on to Kashmir and the resulting blood loss by the day 'coz Hindus who fled due to terrorism have after repeated attempts of return and subsequent massacares lost any desire to relocate back....But yes once we give up Kashmir we could have Assam, Punjab, Tamil Nadu all wishing to be their own country...Hence, India cannot give up Kashmir..Well I say if we can't give up why not completely take it over...This can be done and everybody knows this..Yet diplomacy, red tape, nuclear proewss of both countries and political mind games have led to proxy wars (read Kargil) and 15 years of raging terrorism sometimes more sometime less controlled by the Indian Army.....
In the present circumstances, it could be an eternity or some sort of a revolutionary step that would lead Kashmir back to the track...India's leading tourism industry, a land of natural beauty and peace..as nature evolves so will Kashmir by God's grace....Hopefully, some day my Dad will be able to spend his leisure time as a retired person idlying in the ambience of a house in Srinagar or a picnic villa in Pahelgam.....
To end my piece on a positive tone, the first good thing coming out of Kahsmir that I have heard of in many years is this----a startup, an outsourcing tech company that has started in Kashmir....To be able to do this with limited internet access, no cell phone usage, minimal infrastucrure is a feat in itself....Hurray to the courageous businessmen/women and JAI HIND !
To me definitely there is hope....maybe a minute possibility that one day Kashmir will be restored to the peaceful beautiful land it once was... It was described in all my geography and history books as the "Heaven on Earth" or the "Crown of India"...I remember everytime I read that I would feel so proud that I belonged to that enchanting part of India...Kashmir Valley so serene, so clean and so naturally beautiful....the lakes, mountains, the apple orchards....It really was Heaven and I absolutely loved every part of Kashmir.....
This is the Kashmir that I have lost in life and in memories...Today I try to avoid thinking about Kashmir because when I do it doesn't bring back these sweet childhood memories but it brings with it the horrror, the evil scent of blood that has been constantly flowing in Kashmir since the lates 1980s....One single day hasn't passed in the last 15 years when at least 15 people did not die in Kashmir either civilians and/or army men or terrorists...Who dies doesn't really matter...Its everyday last line news on the frontpage of every published newspaper...Who cares ?? Do people in India care ?? Do people in the world care ?? I don't know !
I find it hard to believe that its been 15 years since the last time our family was in Srinagar, the city where my parents were born and lived half their lives.....I still remember it was October 1989 and we were just getting off a bus at the Srinagar bus stand..While we were still unloading our luggage my cousin brother who was there to greet us was ready with a cab and was hurriedly trying to get us out of the main bus stand area...While our taxi was whizzing out into the narrow streets close to the bus stand, we heard a 'boom a whoom' sound...Lo and behold it was a bomb blast..It was the 3rd in one single day and more than half the city was under curfew......While we reached home safely my cousin gave us the latest run down on the militancy situation et al...My Dad has a large family and all of his brothers and sisters and cousins and their families had gathered at our ancestral house that week for my cousin sister's marriage..It was a happy occasion and amidst all the curfews and bomb blasts and the hail storm it was the last most eventful real Kashmiri wedding in our family..In typical Kashmiri fashion it lasted 7 complete days and we all had a blast...It was fun man..the good food, the great music...awesome....
Anyways, after digression let me get back to the topic in question :: what now happens of Kashmir:: Well the practical mind says nothing much can happen...Most of Kashmir is now inhabited by Muslims who per se want to be a part of Pakistan; and hence, there is no real reason to hold on to Kashmir and the resulting blood loss by the day 'coz Hindus who fled due to terrorism have after repeated attempts of return and subsequent massacares lost any desire to relocate back....But yes once we give up Kashmir we could have Assam, Punjab, Tamil Nadu all wishing to be their own country...Hence, India cannot give up Kashmir..Well I say if we can't give up why not completely take it over...This can be done and everybody knows this..Yet diplomacy, red tape, nuclear proewss of both countries and political mind games have led to proxy wars (read Kargil) and 15 years of raging terrorism sometimes more sometime less controlled by the Indian Army.....
In the present circumstances, it could be an eternity or some sort of a revolutionary step that would lead Kashmir back to the track...India's leading tourism industry, a land of natural beauty and peace..as nature evolves so will Kashmir by God's grace....Hopefully, some day my Dad will be able to spend his leisure time as a retired person idlying in the ambience of a house in Srinagar or a picnic villa in Pahelgam.....
To end my piece on a positive tone, the first good thing coming out of Kahsmir that I have heard of in many years is this----a startup, an outsourcing tech company that has started in Kashmir....To be able to do this with limited internet access, no cell phone usage, minimal infrastucrure is a feat in itself....Hurray to the courageous businessmen/women and JAI HIND !
Where is the Life Good :: India vs. USA
Today I was feeling very gloomy since morning...No particular reason, just one of those days were you just don't feel good about yourself...Anyways, life doesn't really give u a choice so I went around my busy day doing things putting my mood on a backburner...Came home at 6:30, had a cup of coffee and did some domestic chores that were pending since a longtime....A friend called, I asked him to call later, in no mood to talk apparently....
Finally, I went to check mail at my mailbox outside my building and there in the courtyard I saw a friend's hammock tied between 2 trees....I sat, then tried to relax rocking myself gently in the hammock with cool breeze filling my heavy lungs with loads of air...all of sudden I started singing Hindi songs and that's when I realised what was bothering me since morning.....It was HOME..my country India, that which I miss all the time..I am not much of a crier, yet I was nostalgic and all of a sudden all kinds of songs came to my mind..Some reminding me about Mummy & Daddy, some about school and college friends, some just about India and my life there....
You might think there is something terribly wrong with my life in the US for me to feel so depressed..Nope there is nothing wrong..Life couldn't have been better..I just graduated from Stanford, a great school with a wealth of opportunities..I was looking for a job, I have more than one to choose from, I am healthy, hearty....all's well with my family and friends....There is basically no need for me to be unhappy...Yet I didn't feel good the whole day today...WHY, I OFTEN ASK MYSELF THIS QUESTION ?!
Then I think maybe it was the long 40 minute phone conversation with Mom & Dad last night that's on my mind and is emancipating in different forms today..But no this is not a one time occurrence..It keeps happening, sometimes once a week, once a month or........Yet the yearning never leaves my heart...That yearning to go back to India.....
These days I often think about life ahead and this what I always decide: "I'll work with a great hi-tech company in the US (or the World for that matter) for 3 years, gain good business exposure, then maybe go to B-school (if I think its worth it at that time!) and then go back and work in INDIA either for a global company or preferably start my own venture..."
Seems like a good plan.. Huh! Will it work out..Life is never perfect and I have heard stories of many people who wanted to do the same thing but then got stuck in the rat race here and never could go back...Maybe these are people who always wanted to settle in the States....I never wanted...I was and am too much in love with that corrupted, full of problems developing nation of mine ! I came to the US because this was the kind of education I wanted after finishing my Bachelors in Engineering from India...My undergrad studies had left me disillusioned and highly confused with what I wanted to do with my life...Masters at Stanford in MS&E has given me just the education I wanted - graduate coursework closer to the industry focused on real business problems rather than theoretical stuff which is what the education system in India teaches one...
So ya, here are the PROS for which I came here: for the opportunities to study, explore and work in areas which haven't started blossoming in India as career professions as yet! The same is the main reason why 1/4th of the Silicon Valley is filled with Indians staying in the US...Plus there are other small factors like a comfortable life- a cool sports car, house, the fun stuff about traveling and exploring this whole wide country called the US of A.. Also hey I forgot there is the other good reason the $$$$$ - the money..C'mon who doesn't need the money plus you could or hey your family could lead an awesome life in India given what you earn here gets converted to 50 times in the Indian currency.....
All this and people are happy....Really my own dear friends and relatives want to live in the US all their life and are in the painful process of their Green Card applications...Nothing wrong with their choice hey.....
But ME I don't know the way my mood swings everytime I remember "Chitti Ayyi Hai Watan se Chitti Aiyi Hai" - a Hindi song which means a letter has come from your motherland, I get a big lump in my throat and I want to run back to India....What attracts me to India..Well India has its PROS too -- be closer to parents and take care of them in their old age, those parents who came from a modest background and gave me and my sister a great life, education, independence, strength, exposure and the guts to Dream Big & Live your Dreams....Then there is also the feel good thing -- eating Gol Guppe and Pav Bhaji with friends on the beach, fighting in the regional language with the maid, postman and what not...! I just love it....And then who knows maybe 10 years from now Bangalore will be the next Silicon Valley (I mean real Bigtime!)..That would be great the Indian lifestyle, the career opportunity that knows no bounds..Sure the money will be less but that's okay - I never wanted and will never want a King's life....I should have just enough to pursue all my passions....
Hey guys that was my take on life in India vs. USA..my perspective, my bull-headed opinion,,,I now realize a very haphazard and going all over the place kinda discussion.. thats enough to bore people for know...Ha :)
Finally, I went to check mail at my mailbox outside my building and there in the courtyard I saw a friend's hammock tied between 2 trees....I sat, then tried to relax rocking myself gently in the hammock with cool breeze filling my heavy lungs with loads of air...all of sudden I started singing Hindi songs and that's when I realised what was bothering me since morning.....It was HOME..my country India, that which I miss all the time..I am not much of a crier, yet I was nostalgic and all of a sudden all kinds of songs came to my mind..Some reminding me about Mummy & Daddy, some about school and college friends, some just about India and my life there....
You might think there is something terribly wrong with my life in the US for me to feel so depressed..Nope there is nothing wrong..Life couldn't have been better..I just graduated from Stanford, a great school with a wealth of opportunities..I was looking for a job, I have more than one to choose from, I am healthy, hearty....all's well with my family and friends....There is basically no need for me to be unhappy...Yet I didn't feel good the whole day today...WHY, I OFTEN ASK MYSELF THIS QUESTION ?!
Then I think maybe it was the long 40 minute phone conversation with Mom & Dad last night that's on my mind and is emancipating in different forms today..But no this is not a one time occurrence..It keeps happening, sometimes once a week, once a month or........Yet the yearning never leaves my heart...That yearning to go back to India.....
These days I often think about life ahead and this what I always decide: "I'll work with a great hi-tech company in the US (or the World for that matter) for 3 years, gain good business exposure, then maybe go to B-school (if I think its worth it at that time!) and then go back and work in INDIA either for a global company or preferably start my own venture..."
Seems like a good plan.. Huh! Will it work out..Life is never perfect and I have heard stories of many people who wanted to do the same thing but then got stuck in the rat race here and never could go back...Maybe these are people who always wanted to settle in the States....I never wanted...I was and am too much in love with that corrupted, full of problems developing nation of mine ! I came to the US because this was the kind of education I wanted after finishing my Bachelors in Engineering from India...My undergrad studies had left me disillusioned and highly confused with what I wanted to do with my life...Masters at Stanford in MS&E has given me just the education I wanted - graduate coursework closer to the industry focused on real business problems rather than theoretical stuff which is what the education system in India teaches one...
So ya, here are the PROS for which I came here: for the opportunities to study, explore and work in areas which haven't started blossoming in India as career professions as yet! The same is the main reason why 1/4th of the Silicon Valley is filled with Indians staying in the US...Plus there are other small factors like a comfortable life- a cool sports car, house, the fun stuff about traveling and exploring this whole wide country called the US of A.. Also hey I forgot there is the other good reason the $$$$$ - the money..C'mon who doesn't need the money plus you could or hey your family could lead an awesome life in India given what you earn here gets converted to 50 times in the Indian currency.....
All this and people are happy....Really my own dear friends and relatives want to live in the US all their life and are in the painful process of their Green Card applications...Nothing wrong with their choice hey.....
But ME I don't know the way my mood swings everytime I remember "Chitti Ayyi Hai Watan se Chitti Aiyi Hai" - a Hindi song which means a letter has come from your motherland, I get a big lump in my throat and I want to run back to India....What attracts me to India..Well India has its PROS too -- be closer to parents and take care of them in their old age, those parents who came from a modest background and gave me and my sister a great life, education, independence, strength, exposure and the guts to Dream Big & Live your Dreams....Then there is also the feel good thing -- eating Gol Guppe and Pav Bhaji with friends on the beach, fighting in the regional language with the maid, postman and what not...! I just love it....And then who knows maybe 10 years from now Bangalore will be the next Silicon Valley (I mean real Bigtime!)..That would be great the Indian lifestyle, the career opportunity that knows no bounds..Sure the money will be less but that's okay - I never wanted and will never want a King's life....I should have just enough to pursue all my passions....
Hey guys that was my take on life in India vs. USA..my perspective, my bull-headed opinion,,,I now realize a very haphazard and going all over the place kinda discussion.. thats enough to bore people for know...Ha :)
What A Crickety Night!
last night was something..i was up all night following that ever so exciting game of cricket between arch rivals: India & Pakistan on the fair grounds of Sri Lanka's Premdasa stadium....as the American population is not so aware about cricket (think something more complicated than baseball) therz always this problem of how to watch the cricket match....it is always covered by some random cable channel that is highly oversubscribed and unavailable to lesser mortals like me.....
for those curious to understand something about cricket checkout:
http://www.cricinfo.com/
http://us.rediff.com/cricket/index.html
anyways, i was trying to keep up with the game online...it cud've been a great game had the Indian team given the Pakis a run for their money...however, that was not to be.....after a swashbuckling performance by Shoaib Malik, the Pakis were great guns with 300 runs posted....India alas, with 7 batsmen cud not match up the standards and lost out...if only one player wud had stood by Sachin, India JEET hi jata...Pakistan won a well deserved match but it cud/wud have been so much fun if the Indies had at least lost neck to neck.....
enough of cricket though....staying up last nite also gave me that oh so not available time to redesign my humble abode on the internet..that was 1 cool thing accomplished over the weekend....i try to forget that i slept thru most of Sunday-the day and hence skipped swim/gym/shopping and what not....lazy me....
nocturnal me it seems will be up tonite as well-- i m now hooked to the blog biz and all so excited about re-starting my childhood habit of writing loads of snippets every week....back then it was more stories and/or poems provoked by mood swings....hope my new blogspot will give me a new channel to express my thoughts on the latest happennings in the world and my life...
for those curious to understand something about cricket checkout:
http://www.cricinfo.com/
http://us.rediff.com/cricket/index.html
anyways, i was trying to keep up with the game online...it cud've been a great game had the Indian team given the Pakis a run for their money...however, that was not to be.....after a swashbuckling performance by Shoaib Malik, the Pakis were great guns with 300 runs posted....India alas, with 7 batsmen cud not match up the standards and lost out...if only one player wud had stood by Sachin, India JEET hi jata...Pakistan won a well deserved match but it cud/wud have been so much fun if the Indies had at least lost neck to neck.....
enough of cricket though....staying up last nite also gave me that oh so not available time to redesign my humble abode on the internet..that was 1 cool thing accomplished over the weekend....i try to forget that i slept thru most of Sunday-the day and hence skipped swim/gym/shopping and what not....lazy me....
nocturnal me it seems will be up tonite as well-- i m now hooked to the blog biz and all so excited about re-starting my childhood habit of writing loads of snippets every week....back then it was more stories and/or poems provoked by mood swings....hope my new blogspot will give me a new channel to express my thoughts on the latest happennings in the world and my life...
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