Taare Zameen Par

How often we see movies, which not only get the intellectual/critical acclaim but also get across the general masses effortlessly by putting a strong message in a creative way? I believe rarely. Taare Zameen Par is one such movie, which not only is a masterpiece of direction, cinematography, screenplay and performance but also makes us realize the spirit of freedom, the sense of colours and the desire within every human being.

Most of us while watching the film will feel that this is the story of our own house; this happens with us in school, our dad speaks in the same manner; very minutely each and every scene of the movie is created keeping in mind the regular trend in every household, now and then experiences in school, neighbourhood, and of –course as Aamir says, “in this competitive world.”

The movie is about suppressed aspirations, imagination and innocence of an eight-year-old boy who is forced to live up to the standards set by the society, where every one has to live up to the expectations of others, where for any one to ‘fit’ in it has to think the way and work the way others are doing.

There is just no room for people who want to think differently or who choose not to be a part of this ongoing rat race. The rule is that either you are in it or else you’re non-existing.

Nikumbh Sir, in the movie says, “97.5% , 96.7% , 95%, isse kam tu gaali ke barabar hain.” Similarly I use to think what will happen when everyone will start scoring 100%, in a tussle to be the topper, this day is not far. In this country intelligence is counted on marks you get, no matter the topper has spent all the night rutting the answers, we never look beyond it, teachers, parents never care to develop the intellect of the child. All we are doing is proving a bookish knowledge.

The most intelligent ones are those who are in the Science section, Commerce sections are one step behind and please don’t talk about the Humanities section – they are there just because they didn’t get the ‘good’ marks.

Arts, craft, physical education, sports, creative writing, such subjects are never emphasized in schools neither by parents because according to them they are not lucrative enough.

Other than being just lucrative for many of us it does not even sound good to say, ‘my son is a painter,’ ‘oh, he is doing hotel management.’ Just for the reason that the one standing in front of you might consider it menial.

The movie concerns the efforts of a "modern day" society who is concerned with achieving the goals it has set out and latter imposed upon those who never wanted them. They are on a road to what may be perceived as success and where everyone keeps a close track on the progress of others to compare.

There is just no space for innocent imaginations, street games, small-small gangs of children living in the same locality, long evenings of cricket matches, football, or those childhood games, since early childhood the burden of books is placed on small shoulders. Nowadays one hardly sees children playing on streets. Mothers’ of 5 years old are more concerned that their children must learn A for Apple rather than really knowing what Apple really is.

The questions come to mind that are we really free? May be politically, may be physically but what about the mind, thought, expression… why should we be burdened with the goals which we never set for ourselves, why should we let others dream for us? Why can’t we live distinct from this frozen world, in our own warmth? Find success as we defined it not as mentioned in the Webster’s dictionary. Every human is different and special let us recognize this fact soon, otherwise the moment is not distant when we will see robots and not children, where human emotions, morale, dreams all will be mechanized. Then only success will prevail not happiness, only wealth and not leisure, only people not humans.

Just step out of this status quo and yell out to the world.

A Little Sweet, A Little Sour

A Little Close Not Too Far

All I Need, All I Need

All I Need Is To Be Free

Open Eyed How I Run

How I Run To The Other Side

Open Eyed How I Run

How I Run To The Other Side

Then I Glide Like A Bird

I Just Want To Be Free

It happened one Day....

Usually I’m not the kind of person who will go around flirting on streets or any other place no matter the most wonderful guy sent by God himself is standing next to me and also it is considered unpleasant for a girl to behave this way in my civic but sometimes it does happen when you accidentally do something and it turns out to be much charming and memorable which certainly cannot be called flirting.

Though I didn’t want to start it by saying that it was one pleasant morning or it was one fine day…. err…. But cannot find a better start…so…

It was a chilly morning of 23^rd January 2007, me and my friend were going to our office, where we were interning. We were stopped at the road across the India Gate, Delhi, as the there was a dress rehearsal of the Republic Day Parade.

We were standing on the footpath in front of the Patiala House (the Delhi District Court), surrounded by all the old wretched lawyers and little kids from the NDMC School watching the Parade pass by, clapping and cheering the armed forces of our nation marching forward with pride, elegantly dressed in their uniform. One squad after other, one regiment after other then came marching forward the officers from the Naval force clad in their navy blue coat, I really couldn’t have recognized owing to my pitiful knowledge, if I wouldn’t have seen the symbol of an anchor up their sleeves that they were a Naval Squad.

I was cheering them and suddenly saw one smart officer marching, second from right in the last file, was looking at me, just in a moment, not thinking how to react and I just saluted him, he smiled and passed by, still mesmerized with the whole act I kept looking at his back.

In want to see him again, I did which never thought I would actually do (“following a guy”), I dragged my friend further, where the parade had halt to take a break, searched that squad where they were taking some refreshments and much to the embarrassment of my friend we walked through all the men standing there, while me all the time looking for that same guy. Finally I saw him standing in front of me drinking water, he grinned at me and said “Hi” I replied back saying “Hello”… wanted to actually talk to him more… but feeling shy and a bit awkward I couldn’t and walked forward with my friend, who was actually feeling weird of what all I was doing… and may be for the first time in all those years she has known me as a coy and righteous person who would never do anything objectionable, she must have thought that I’m actually a shameless creature. But least caring I said to her “let’s wait please, they will start marching again then I want to see that guy again…” so we waited in front of the Embassy of Iran for the Parade to start again much to her disgust.

The parade started again that squad was marching in front of us…I looked at that guy again, waved at him and he grinned again and winked at me…I was again awestruck…

I kept standing till his figure started to fade…the parade was to march till the Red Fort and we were destined to reach our office, which I could see right in front of my eyes. The little flirting…well yes would be called flirting, ended there.

For that moment I’d actually wanted to follow him till wherever they went but later thought that it’s better to go to my office and not get carried away with this mystifying interaction.

For a guy, this must be usual to look at girls and wink at them (while the girls not finding it repulsive) but may be something unusual for me...so thinking sensibly I walked towards my office and prize it as my first flirt.

"An Icon of Struggle for Justice" by C. Rajshekhar

Born on 28 September 1907, 1924 was the turning point in Bhagat Singh;s life. On being pressurized for marriage, he ran off to kanpur where he started reporting for the Hindi newspaper ‘Pratap’ and also joined Chandrashekhar Azad’s Hindustan Republican Association (HRA). In 1925, he returned to Lahore; started a militant youth organization called Naujawan Bharat Sabha and helped Sohan Singh Josh in April 1926 establish the Worker’s and Peasants Party; was first arrested in 1927 on charges of explosion at Lahore and after his release, led the HRA in 1928 and renamed it as HRSA.

Retaliating against Lala Lajpat Rai’s killing, Bhagat Singh and his associates eliminated policemen Saunders in 1928.

In April 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs into the Delhi assembly to protest against the Trade Dispute Bill and he was sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 June. A gun factory was unearthed at Lahore and Sukhdev and others were arrested; on 10^th July 1929, the Lahore Conspiracy case began and ended with the death penalty for Bhagat Singh on October 7, 1931.

Bhagat Songh was a real life hero who bore police torture bravely and sacrificed his life to free India. (Ajoy Ghosh, co-accused and general secretary of CPI in independent India writes “In July 1929 we were produced in court …met Bhagat Singh … he was carried into the court on a stretcher. For months he and Dutt had been tortured by the police”).

He had an irrepressible sense of black humour. When his tearful father told him that the hanging would take place by March end, he replied “Chalo accha hai”. In Lahore’s hot summer, “Kothri mein bhunne se accha marna hai”, he said.

He also had a romantic side to his personality. Once when sukhdev accused him of being in the clutches of a woman (the reference was to Durga Devi who planned the train getaway after the Saunders’ killing), Bhagat Singh cited the case of Mazzini – after repeated failures in his revolutionary attempts, it was a girl’s love which saved him from madness and suicide. He wrote “eik krantikari (revolutionary) ke jeevan mein prem (love) koi bemail cheez nahi hai.” However, Bhagat Singh’s character and respect for freedom fighter Bhagwati Charan Vohra’s wife Durga Devi is reflected in the same letter, “Main ye keh sakta hoon ki aapas mein pyar kar sakte hain aur apne pyar ke sahare apne aavegon (passions) se oopar utth sakte hain. Apni pavitrata (here it means fidelity) kaayam rakh sakte hain.”

A voracious reader he wrote from proson (24^th July 1930) to his friend jaidev. “Please take the following books from Dwarkadas Library and send it through Kulvir (Bhagat’s brother): ‘Militarism’ by Karl Liebknecht, ‘Why Men Fight’ by Bertrand Russell, ‘Soviets at Work, Collapse of the Second Intrernational’, ‘Let Wing Communism by Lenin, ‘Mutual Aid by Prince Kropotkin, ‘fields, factories and workshops,’ ‘civil war in France’ by Marx, ‘Land Revolution in Russia’, ‘Punjab Peasant in Prosperity and Debt’ by Darling, ‘Historical Materialism’ By Bukharin and a novel ‘Spy’ by Upton Sinclair.”

A prolific writer too, he wrote in Punjabi, English, Urdu and Hindi. Apart from writing letter and 400 page jail notebook, Bhagat Singh wrote three monographs: “Why I became an Atheist”, “The philosophy of the bomb” and “A letter to young political workers”.

His political sense was superb – whether in chucking bombs into the assembly to spread the freedom call of revolutionaries countrywide; using the prison term contemplate and write on socialism, revolutions, history of revolutionaries in India, Ireland and elsewhere; the decision to go to an indefinite hunger strike in prison urging prison reforms that galvanized the entire nation; to use the court room and resultant media publicity to get his message across etc – all these show that the 23 years old Indian Revolutionary was politically far precocious than Lenin, Mao and Che Guevara.

Young Indians are not excited by political personalities, as most contemporary politicians are dull and uninspiring.

However they can draw inspiration from Bhagat Singh’s struggle for the principles of justice and equality. As a first step, the GenNext could jettison their flimsy cricketing and filmy icons and start reading up on Bhagat Singh to keep memory of the martyr fresh.

The writer teaches at National Law Institute University, Bhopal and can be contacted at crsekhar2001@yahoo.co.in

Her smiling face - Lifting the veil

I have always been against for women covering their faces, whether its purdah for the Hindu women or naqab for their Muslim sisters. I never find any logical reason for doing so, God has given me a unique face, it’s my unique identity then what is the need to cover it. Or there is so much distrust of one human being in other that we need to cover our face and use the veil as a shield to protect ourselves.

The times when this must have been introduced were different from today, now women are not what they use to be; we no longer live in anarchy or in a monarchial set up? In a free independent India when we have equal rights, why these women does not have an equal status?

Shopping in the old streets of Bhopal, I see various women who have either covered their face either with the anchal of the saree or a burqa. Even if it is 45 degree hot they are jam packed with these black clothes (which absorbs even more heat). Few days back in these same street a burqa clad women was sitting next to me in a shoe shop, I turned my face right and we happen to look at each other I passed a smile but I couldn’t make out that whether she responded to my smile with a smile or not as her face was covered. She bought something and started walking, I looked at her again, our eyes met – she must have smiled at me but again I couldn’t make out.

What harm it could have made if I would have seen her smiling face behind the black cloth, it happened to make a sort of communication gap between us and not only me it happens with lots of people. I feel it kinds of takes away your freedom to express yourself. Even if that woman smiled back at me, I just couldn’t know.

Advocates of veil justify it by saying that it protects the dignity of a woman, they chose to wear it at their own will, and it protects them from evil eyes.

Well then I beg to disagree, a veil is not the symbol of dignity of a woman, it’s her stature and her conduct, and not a piece of cloth. And even if women nowadays choose to wear it, then I would like to say even this choice was imposed upon them much before in history by the male counterpart.

It’s a pity that a face is considered no more than a pretty item, which needs to be concealed out of shame of being looked at. Do you believe beauty is something shameful that need to be covered? If so why God created it?

I don’t say that modernism is throwing off your clothes, if covering your face is a sign of conservatism than neither wearing a mini skirt suggests liberalism. We live in an era where equality is being sought, then why are we humans creating these sorts of discriminations. Let a human live like he/she is, when God makes no discrimination why do we?

I’m still thinking of those two glittering eyes, her smile must be as beautiful as her eyes were.

Dental Woes

Today I experienced how it is to be the center of the attraction, generally a common person in our country is a center of attraction on his birthday or wedding, exceptions being that you are a celebrity or the news channels have recently hyped something about you.

Well nothing of that sort with me, I was the center of the attraction because I went to a dentist today. After a passing a hell of one week in acute pain with no effect of the painkiller the D-day for me arrived when my root canal surgery was to be done.

I was made to sit on this huge chair, which was equipped with so many weird tools, the sight of which gave me jitters that they are supposed to do something inside your mouth.

After getting a nice scolding from the doctor on losing my older prescription, he said “eik paper tu sambhal nahi payi aap, dant kaise sambhale hongay”.

After all this one really pretty girl showed up, who was a dentist and supposed to do my surgery, and I found her no more pretty when she put that huge anesthetic injection in my mouth but ya she was pretty and was sweetly humming some song all the time.

The nightmare though, was yet to come, suddenly three four men came around me looking with keen interest what is happening inside my mouth, probably they were interns, the girl was explaining them “ok now you have to insert a needle like this” “this is how you see the canal”. I preferred to close my eyes, though my jaws were aching like anything. Once it was done, those interns appeared again, and the next moment I found some weirdoes touching my chin and cheeks and admiring the tooth as if some diamond. I was like a live example for them and couldn’t even say a word with those mirror and forceps inside.

When finally done I was happy it was over but to my surprise she said, “there are three sittings more”. I was like noooooo.

I have been to many doctors, dermatologists, ophthalmologist, etc. etc. but going to the dentist is the worst of all, so better take care of those buddies next time they are hell important.

Jab We Met

Last week, I saw the movie ‘Jab We Met’ most talked about because of the break up of Kareena and Shahid, who play the leading role in the film. There break up hit the national news because it was of such importance to the Indian film fanatic fraternity. And luckily this did help the movie do well in the theater, which made excellent collections at the box office.

The movie was no doubt well made with good performances by kareena and shahid, while kareena looking less of her chameli image for the first time and shahid my-my, after watching this film every girl must be wanting to marry him and that includes me too.

The storyline of the movie was of-course clichéd, we must have seen various hindi movies where the girl and guy meet in a train or during a journey, first they hate each other then eventually realizes this love when they are moving apart, etc., etc. yet the movie offers something different may be it’s the shahid-kareena ‘chemistry’, awesome music, well written scenes and of-course the raw Punjabi culture which ads a ting to the story. Thanks to all this you never feel bore in the film or find it repetitive anywhere.

Yet, it makes me wonder that whatever shown in the movie how far it is close to real life, though this is not a criteria for judging a film, because nothing is impossible in Hindi film. So please go and watch the film and you will surely enjoy it but please don’t expect that you will meet a multi-millionaire boy in the train, who will fall in love with you.

A Visit to the Lake View…

Bhopal mein agar koi bahar se aaye tu dekhne ke liye eik hi cheez sabse zyada shaandar
hai…apna badha talaab urff Lake View, waise aur bhi kafi cheezein hain aisa mat samajhna ki
aur kuch hai hi nahi..,.hain jaise bharat bhavan, museum, manav sanghralay, par yeh sab jagah tu school ke bacchon , teachers aur kala (art) premiyon ke liye hain…

Hamare Bhopal ke jagruk aur aadarsh yuva varg ka adda tu Lake View hi hai bhai…

Ab jaise mulla ki daudh masjid tak theek waise hi Bhopal ke hazaron phokat, lakhon funta-funti ki daudh bhi Lake View par hi aakar khatam hoti hai…

Han tu ab zara yahan ke khushnuma mahool par nazar dalein…subah ke waqt kuch ‘health conscious loag yahan walk karne aate hain’ , bacche skating karne aur han driving seekhne ke liye bhi yahan ki road ‘perfect’ hai… par jo manzar din aur shaam ke waqt ka hai…wo bhopali phokat giri ka behtareen example hai.

Tamaan phokat apni bike par yahan aakar khadhe ho jatey hain, gaurtalab hai ki school ya college bunk karke aa rahe hotey hain…

Aur un couples ke kya kehna…bike romeo chala raha hota hai aur peeche eik ‘parda nasheen’ Laila baithi hui hoti hai… itihas ki sabhi kisse ko jhutlata ye romeo aur laila ghanto yaahan haathon mein haath dalkar ghoomte hain…waise chupne-chupane ke liye nagar nigam ne kai bushes or trees laga rakhein hain…ahem ahem!!!!

Aur zara modernize karne ke liye eik coffee shop khol di hai par maximum time wahan kuch ‘available’ nahi hota…aur ho ya na ho kya farak padh raha hai, romeo aur laila eik cold-drink lekar hi waqt bitana zyada behtar samajhte hain…

Khair ab hum rukh kartey hain yahan par ‘tashan’ dikhane walay bikers’ ki taraf…jo Dhoom ke John Abraham aur Tere Naam ke Salaman Khan ke mile jule rrop hotey hain…

Style martey hue sadhko par tafreeh kartey hain…ankhon par goggles , haath mein cigarette…aur jahan ladhki dekhi wahan style mein ijafa…waise bikes par stunts bhi gaur karne layak hotey hain…

Aur Sunday ke din tu bas poora Bhopal hi lake view par utar aata hai…bacche , unke mummy papa..dada dadi..sab boating karne ya zoo dekhne aatey hain…pop-corn bechne walon ki tu chandi ho jati hai…aur yeh sab laog jatey jatey khali packets as a souvenir wahan phenk jatey hain…next morning dekho tu lagta hai ki jaise tsunami aaya tha yahan.

Waqai mein yeh jagah khoobsurat honay ke saath saath multi purpose bhi hai, aur kahan milegi poore Hindustan mein aisi jagah…subah ke waqt jitni shant, shaam ke waqt utni hi haseen (ab zara shayiri bhi kar lete hain hum).

Tu hamare sabhi phokat bhai loag…aur tamam couples, uncles and aunties, children and grand children let us pay and Ode to our own shaan-e-bhopal …

Agar yeh taalab na hota tu yeh phokatgiri kahan hoti…aur yeh couples kahan jatey…yeh bikes kahan daudhti…jannat hoti hogi Kashmir mein par hamare lake view si raunak nahi hogi.

Seeking Unison

It use to piss me off when, some unknown person sitting on the other side of the border use to say that India is a pseudo secular country and the people are pseudo secularists.

I never believed them and use to get back at them with strong arguments.

I can assure that the Government to a larger extent upholds the secular identity of our nation (you may disagree with the statement if feel contrary), the issue here is not the government or any political party, its about us … We the People of this legendary country who are proud of its ‘culture’, ‘heritage’, ‘traditions’, ‘morals’ and ‘values’.

How much we respect this moral and constitutional ideal, which stands at the forefront of the identity and integrity of India?

The question remains the same, are we secular from our heart and not the prima facie show off where we wish the other community on their festival?

I’m writing this not after watching some mind-boggling movie, which astonishes my conscience.

Just some personal experiences, which make me, think that why we have set standards for each and every Indian or the communities living within and we judge them and be-friend them based on these pre-conceived notions?

Indians are highly opinionated about each and every one and the sad part is that this opinion is generalized, taking a slight racist bent. Punjabis’ are boisterous, clever and always ready to fight, Bengalis are cunning, self-centered, Keralities are cunning too (and no matter a person belong to Karnataka or Kerela or TN, he just a Madrasi for the rest of the world) Gujaratis’ are misers and Muslims, needless to say they all are stubborn, rigid, and can bluff you anytime for their own interest. All of us more or less live with such opinions and then believe that all Indians are brethren.

Antagonism against each other is so much that often before making friends, one looks at the caste and religion of a person. One doesn’t want to rent a house to a muslim or sell a property, one does not want their sons or daughters befriending people belonging to so and so community. We are creating a Ghetto around ourselves, which might be so harmful for the future of the country that it will become unimaginable for our posterity to associate with others. In the era of globalization we have created such boundaries with our own land that the state has become saddening. I used to think that it is the old generation, which use to think so, the new clan which is educated and ‘modernized’ will not be suffering from such biases but I was wrong here, the hatred has as usual carried forward. This new generation has the same thoughts too; they might not show it but inside have the same feelings, which are now concretized. Its like the era of imperialism is gone but the white man still thinks he has the burden of civilizing the rest of the world.

I talk to my friends and they believe the same, that every Bihari is cunning and not even a single Muslim can be trusted, etc, etc, (other comments are not even worthy to be read or be written).

I’m sincerely waiting for the day when we really live up to the Gandhian ideals than having a national holiday and a dry day on 2^nd October. Where unity is not only outside but also within our hearts. It can only happen when people for the sake of the interest of the country come out of such disgusting biases, it’s very important that we give up such communal ideology, which exists in majority of the minds of the Indians or else it will be quite easy to disintegrate again. And my personal experience say that brain-washing is the not only the job of some madarsa or some jehadi group … most of our homes do that too by prejudicing one from the other, which is quite worse from the former.

I’m reminded of few line by Faiz, which goes like this, “jism par qaid hai, jazbaat pe zanjeerein hain, fikar mehboos hai, guftaar par tazeerein hain, apni himmat hai ke hum phir bhi jiye jatein hain”.

I really feel despite of such growing antagonism and mistrust against each other what is that one thing which is still making us survive? I don’t know what is it, but if such scenario continues for a long time, we may not survive any longer.

I can only request every one to believe in the ideals of the country, let every one live, befriend, and grow as one entity, come out of the ghetto created around yourself. … It’s us who can return to this land its lost glory, peace and prosperity …

To end I would like to quote Ahmed Faraz,

“jab qatal hua sur-sazon ka,

jab kaal padha aawazon ka,

jab shehar khandar ban jayega,

phir kis par sang uthaoge?

Apne chehre ko aaino mein,

jab dekhoge, darr jaoge.”

Welcome All!!!

It is my childhood dream to edit a newspaper of my own - write wonderful articles, editorials, opinions. Well that might take a long time but I can find a little solace here by writing what I feel and make it available for people to read.
So I have created this space for writing what I feel like and flaunt my flair to be a wonderful journalist.