Budget- op ed

An open letter to the finance minister






Dear Mr. Finance Minister,




   India’s strong 50 million middle class were a hopeful lot, till you announced your sixth budget so far on the 28th February 2011. It is a known fact that tax reforms is on high priority for us, the much coveted middle class but is anyone listening? You may have doled out Rs 2,000 to taxpayers by raising the exemption limit of general taxpayers to Rs 1.8 lakh, but me being a woman would reap no benefits as such. All of this now seems like a mere gimmick to shut our mouths. But it seems too little for UPA’s aam admi, given the fact that food inflation rates are almost touching two digits and cost of living in urban India is sky rocketing. Fine maybe I am reacting very strongly and I should look at the picture holistically, so let us do just that.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee gearing up for the budget. Photo Credit: Reuters

While the critics called it to be an expected budget and ranked it to be a growth oriented exercise. Even the rural brigade gave the budget a double thumb to a budget set on the backdrop of a macroeconomic structure. The question is what happens to the aspirational life that the working class is so used to and often dreams of. It tends to seem that the opinion of the common man matters the least to the UPA and definitely this non vote bank population hardly makes an appearance in the ballot boxes. It is not unfair that he would have expectations from the budget given the fact the economy is doing so well, thus the high hopes.

I am a 20 something. I live in a metro like Bombay where every restaurant has an air conditioning system; blame it on the sultry climate. Thus from now on I will pay an extra 3% over the existing 10% service tax. With most of my income spent on additional taxes and surcharges, it seems only sensible that not many saving scheme benefits have been announced. Probably the only benefit that the urban young with buying power will enjoy is cheaper and affordable prices on products such as laptops and cell phones. It seems the government has finally come to terms with the fact India is a young country with more than 70% of the population below the age of 35 years. We can now proudly term ourselves as a consumerist society. I completely understand your position and how you have to walk the tightrope, yet it would be wonderful if you remove the Aam Admi from your political agenda since it is clearly not about him anymore.


Another pinch for high travelers is the additional service tax on tickets. Ok, we cut you a slack for that one considering the ever increasing fuel hikes. With high stress jobs, health certainly seems to be a core issue for the flock and the increase in tax will definitely cost us dear and hit the pockets hard.


It is understandable that in a vast country like India with varied conflicting interests, the government is often seen walking the tightrope, but at the same time it is the common man who has to choose between personal gain or the greater good. I do not advocate a happy picture all the time, but with every budget the picture is just getting sadder.


Oh last but not the least let me take this opportunity and thank you for the effect your budget had on the markets. The 700 point rally shows neat on my portfolio least to say.






Yours faithfully,


Always an Aam admi

It is almost the end of week 3 in Delhi.

Surprisingly, Delhi has been pretty well behaved this time around. I did things that I was warned against, for example, going to a club at 3 in the morning, trying to get out of the house at 12 am for a film. More or less all my acts center around staying outdoors late hours. And so far I have survived with joy *touchwood*. 

Last night caught the last show of "The Social Network". I really thought it wasn't worth the run. Though we missed the first 10 minutes of the film, I did not feel I missed much anyways. The film had its moments but at the end of the film I did not miss it. For me a film is good when I am left wanting more. Social Network did not do it for me. 

I was expecting more cinematic excellence from David Fincher. I think The Guardian was right about the film, it was made by a man from the 1.0 generation for the 2.0 guys! I would still recommend it though..  Watch it for the guy who played Eduardo Saverin and the Rashomon style of storytelling. 

Why so random - II

I hate people who try too hard to be random. I know this is the second time I am ranting about it on the blog, but it is just too much to handle. It’s not these acts of randomness but the reason why they do it, that gets on my nerves.



Get attention. Now being random is very post-modern, but trying to get attention is so not! Convince me that you truly believe in all that you say not by overdoing it but by living by it.


So next time you spot someone trying to be all over the place in the name of post modernity, please stop and slap their butts. Do not encourage such people because that is exactly what they are looking for.


Exist because you love to rather than to prove a point. Try to be cool because you are born that way rather than putting an act on. It is so not cool.

Fucked and sucked: Arab Strap

It is quite a pity that I discovered Arab Strap fairly late. Now theirs is not the kind of music I was hunting for, but it was more of a chance encounter and boy! do I love them or what?? I have been listening to all their albums since the 1990s on the loop now. And they are amazing company during these painful examinations.

Arab Straps last album, The last romance is quite a mix of alternative and profoundly indie numbers. My favourite being Stink for its eclectic and bold lyrics. Check it out :

"Burn these sheets that we've just fucked in



My weekend beacon, I've been sucked in


Just one more time and then you'll get tucked in


I think you might still be my best"

I checked their lyrical theme and I was sure it would be : bold, brash and real. These lyrics are about raw emotions that we usually try to hide in the niceties of the romantic-dreamy-starry eyed narrative. Vocalist Moffat's unpretentious voice lends the perfect blend to the crude lyrical notes. It is quite clear how much he hates the drama morning after ;) I am not surprised they call themselves Arab Strap ;)

Books = BFFs? or not BFFs?

Yesterday I was shopping for a few books at Landmark

Observation 1: Pune Landmark is nothing compared to the Bombay one (Infinity mall, Andheri)

Observation 2: Teenagers in Pune are obsessed with Linkin Park, that wasn’t a surprise

Observation 3: Most kids flocked the Xbox and PS3 corner in the bookstore, whereas the classics section, children’s books section were mostly empty or had parents dallying around to find something for their kids who were at the gaming section.

I remember reading Heidi, Bambi or even the Tales of the Huckleberry Finn (that was my favourite as a kid). Like all good girls I read fairytales every night, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, I dreamt about the seven dwarfs and me playing snow white. I even owned pretty shoes like Cinderella. Then I slowly moved on to Oliver Twist, Sherlock Holmes and then there was a brief period of Mills and Boons owing to my age and hormones. And all this while the classics never died. May it be Jane Austen or Jonathan Swift and even Shakespeare- I had a habit of reading aloud Shakespeare, especially Merchant of Venice. That was me when the only video games we played were the ones that came in a big box, cousins or daddy would lug along from foreign land. Mario and Luigi it was.

Today, most kids own PS3s or PSPs or what not. What are they reading anyways? Ummm nothing really. It is either J.K. Rowling’s world that takes them far away from reality or it is Paulo Coelho, yes kids are reading that too, talk about growing up a bit too fast. May be the next disability would be inability to read. Thus I do not support e-books or even audio books or anything that takes one away from the joys of holding a book and reading it.

I love the way books smell. The old ones have a peculiar musky smell, whereas the new ones to me are like hot muffins-fresh and yum. This is what I thought as I waited for the staff to hunt for the book I wanted.


(P.S :- I bought Peter Ackroyd’s selected essays)


(P.S. 2:- I have become a pro at typing in the dark)

Lets tweet

What are we turning into? A community that communicates in 140 characters or less? I miss writing long letters, elaborately giving details of my recent vacation to my friends. Today it would be. “Meenakshi Iyer returned with sun burns and an amazing tan, she loves Goa.”

Twitter is turning us into people with shorter attention spans, with abysmal retention power. It’s like a disease I say if am allowed to be a little crude here. We no longer prefer reading texts that flows into more than three paragraphs.

It is certainly revolutionizing communication but in which direction is the question? We roll our eyes if we find people who are not on Twitter, celebrities are fast signing up as well. Now, I completely support the new media and its wonders, but at the same time, I also take a step backward and contemplate. Where is this leading me?

Social networking puts you in a spot where telling the world what you up to is more like an urge. People are living two lives- online and offline.

Online they have the control, they can mould their persona the way they would like to see them online, it’s like living a virtual dream. So you join groups, become fans of things you don’t even have a clue about? Why? Because the rest of the world is doing so. It is herd behaviour. You want to impress a girl, just manipulate your interests/hobbies sections of your profiles. But what are you in real life may be totally diametrically opposite of what you pretend to be. You go out with your gang of boys, have a great night at the friendly bar, you come home and the first thing on your mind is to put pictures on facebook. You want the world to know that you have an awesome life (considering the popular definition of awesome= social)

Social media definitely revs up your cool Q but at the same time it is turning you into someone you are not.

Leaving Home: a journey closer home

Gone are the days when making a film required a fat producer, extravagant sets , a superstar. It is all boiling down to low budget, real people, real settings, its time for Cinema Verite to go commercial. And the best part is, movie makers are taking the risk, diving straight into the hearts of their audiences and making some pocket money as well.




This Friday (2nd April) releases, Leaving Home: The Life and Music of Indian Ocean. The two hour rockumentary is about this ageing band’s journey that began more than a decade ago. Indian Ocean, rooted deep in Sufi, Indian classical and folk music, saw success with Bandeh. This Hindi rock song, featured in Black Friday and catapulted the band to commercial hit. Youngsters loved them and thus slowly they built a huge fan following by performing across Indian, frequent tours to the US and an album that released more than four years ago.


The film is rightly timed, considering the band is contemplating their next album release soon. After losing Asheem Da, their lead man, Indian Ocean did not waiver or fall apart * Touchwood*. People die, but they leave behind music that keeps resonating for years to come. I am looking forward to the film and hoping that this trend just doesn’t stop here. This may be the moment, for documentary films to make a mark, turn the tables and the talent to get noticed.

Road, Movie- on the move

A filmmakers take on the grandeur of cinema is always a pleasurable watch even if its on those strainingly uncomfortable front row seats. Road, Movie is one such film that you would want to watch in spite of that pain in your neck. The film is not so much about the four main characters but about the art of filmmaking. The most memorable scene remains when Satish Kaushik physically scissors out a scene because he thinks it to be too boring for his local audiences i.e. Benegal's take on editing.

It may be a little slow for Indian sensbilities, we are yet to develop that eye for cinema. It is kind of shameful because even a film like Shree 420 made decades ago tried to put in some logic into our heads. May be it is the thought of looking at films as entertainment that overshadows the real meaning behind it, we call it Popcorn entertainment.

Abhay deol after his portrayal of a jilted lover in Dev D, doesnt deliver much, shoddy dialogues and certain amount of hesitance engulfs his performance. Satish Kaushik is his usual self and new comer Tanishta as a gypsy woman is convincing, its more got to do with her look than her skills.

But in my opinion lets not watch Road, Movie expecting stellar performaces, watch it to be just grateful that we have cinema, the art that touches all of us in some way or the other.

Why so random?

Its funny how some people think they sound smart by thinking random.. why? The only person you make sense to is you. Get that?

Lets decode randomness

1) People think and write random because they want to make an incognito point
2) Lash out at people they hate
3) Too scared to face reality, thus take the help of fantasy
4) Prove a point without having to go through the pain of being upfront
5) Make someones life miserable because theirs sucks anyways
6) Try to be "know-it-all" whereas the reality is far from this
7) Pretend to be too cool for poor earthlings with little more brains than them
8) Like what he/she likes. Why? Because they need acceptance

Virtual Bytes

I was watching the latest episode of Tech Toyz, the single people Valentine’s special, and it suddenly occurred to me how technology has become unstoppable, all encompassing, powerful and dominating. Simply put, in a way, it rules you.
The episode was about Dos’ and Donts of online dating. “How soon should you convert the virtual date into a real one? Should you continue online interactions even after meeting in person? What should be the frequency of your pokes and super pokes?” Now do you get what I am referring to when I say powerful and dominating? If you think about it, it is kinda scary.

Case study 1: Facebook
1) Facebook suggests you say hello to “blaah blaah”. Do I need suggestions from Facebook who I should or I should not stay in touch?
2) “What’s on your mind” it’s such a compelling statement. I remember this conversation, so well that I even made it my entry point into a research assignment- Real VS virtual

J: I didn’t know what to put as my status update, I dint want it to sound stupid.
A: Why don’t you quote someone?
J: No, I want it to be more personal. Something like “I don’t know what to put as my status update. Please help.”
A: wow, that sounds cool

Have you ever seen bad pictures of you and your friends on Facebook? Not often, because this virtual life lets you edit, remove things you wouldn’t want others to see, create a person who is like you but a much better version, with better taste, good experiences and stories to boast about.
You flaunt, you attract more profile views, you create a “YOU” that you always wanted to be.
Case study 2: Buzz
This one’s a new entrant and has many users already. It’s more like Twitter’s close cousin, but less complicated and less intimidating.
It’s a few days old, let’s see how it fares, wouldn’t be too long

So the point I am trying to make here is “where is the real you”?
I’d still like to meet friends over coffee than having online conversations below our favourite picture clicked ages ago. I still would like to give real gifts than virtual ones.
Guess that’s the future of technology, we sit in our cubicles, stuck in real jobs, have many virtual personalities and juggle between them whenever time permits. I wish for more time.. to enjoy who I am, to enjoy who others are and to enjoy the real life.

Do we hear it?

Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock" failed to create the magic. In spite of a perfect recreation, the music failed him. People expect music and nothing else when they read Woodstock, but the film is more of a coming off age tale.

Young Elliot, loves his parents and is trying to get the dilapidated El Monaco Motel running. The sleepy town of Bethel suddenly wakes up to the news of a music festival being organised in dairy farms of Greenwich Village and thus Elliot embarks on a journey to witness the biggest and a life turning event of his life.

Woodstock offers a good backdrop to the film, but beyond that there is no much purpose, which I felt was equal to trivializing it. Elliot sees a whole different world through the eyes of many different people he comes across in the end coming out of closet and accepting who he is.

The film has beautiful visuals, but an incomplete feeling still lingers on.

Watch it for the amazing recreation brought on screen by Lee..

Huacho

Another piece for the bulletin..

“Message is the medium”, famous words by Marshal McLuhan came alive on screen in Huacho by Alejandro Fernandez. This film tries to capture the life of local Chilean peasants who make a living out of small jobs like making cheese and fencing etc.
The camera follows four characters, each a member of the same family with the determination of bringing them closer to the audience. “I used handheld camera and kept the subject close to the camera to make it appear real,” said Alejandro. He added, “The film is not about the countryside it is about the people living there, thus I focussed more on the people and used lot of indoor shots.” Use of dark lighting and jump cuts provide a sense of claustrophobia to the film.
His effort of breaking the stereotype of Chilean countryside is achieved not only through the script but also through his direction. “I wanted to stand up against the capitalistic attitude lurking in the cities. They are often misrepresented in bigger ventures, creating a mockery out of their lives. ” Alejandro believes that cinema should bring out the stories of the poor and oppressed.
Alejandro hails from Chillen and his upbringing in the countryside provided him with valuable insight for the script. “I interviewed a lot of people and would often follow these four characters with a small camera, he said.
Talking about his experience working with non-actors he said, “It was difficult explaining them certain scenes, but the fact that we didn’t script their dialogues helped us.” Alejandro further explains, “People who watched the film from these villages could relate to it, I felt I have succeeded as a filmmaker when one of them told me, ‘It’s a piece from my life’.”
According to him Chilean audience is still not open to offbeat themes. Even watching a movie is quite an expensive affair. Finding funds to make films based on unusual storyline can be quite tedious. But Alejandro’s luck favoured him and he found financers for his venture. “This film is close to my heart and am very happy with the response I have received so far,” he said.
Illustrious directors like Abbas Kiriostami and Maurice Pialat have been his inspiration. Having no formal training in filmmaking Alejandro has learnt his skills by watching and reading about cinema. Being a full time journalist in New York also helped him to save some money for his dream.
A comment by his friend on his Facebook page sums it, “This is a day in the life of a Chilean family after 25 years of capitalism."

By the way, this Chilean director was a delight to talk to. Its very rare for me to enjoy conversations with strangers, with him, coffee and cinema was the perfect combination.


Alejandro

Of love and madness

Recently I was a part of the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF), watched many films, met many interesting people. Will post reviews of films that touched me..starting with ......

The Man Beyond The Bridge (Paltadacho Munis) is a 96 minute Konkani film set in Quepem, a village in Western Ghats of Goa. Vinayak, a widowed forest ranger lives on the other side of the bridge that connects his world to the village. He is attracted a mentally disturbed woman who visits his house every night for food and shelter. Vinayak decides to marry her in spite of the fear of being ostracized by the villagers who outcast anyone with a mental illness.
Laxmikant Shetgaonkar tells this love story weaving it beautifully with the culture of the region. The film based on a short story by Konkani writer, Mahabaleshwar Sail, explores the dilemma of a sensible man against the social taboos that still engulf our society.
A message subplot introduces a village headman who builds a temple on forest land. It is Vinayak’s duty as a forest ranger to oppose this development risking his new love interest. The Man Beyond The Bridge takes audiences beyond the huge crowded cities and gives us a glimpse of rural India. Stuck between the dilemma of humanity and social ethos, Vinayak chooses to go where his heart leads him.
Shetgaonkar does justice to the narrative by keeping it simple yet visually appealing. Shades of realism reflect throughout the texture and bring the audiences closer to the characters. Chitranjan Giri as Vinayak brings out a perceptive portrayal of the character making it an endearing performance.
The film has recently been added to the “Films 101” database for the year 2009. It has also won an award in the "Discovery" category of the Toronto International Film Festival recently. It been screened at other festivals like the IFFI and Cairo International film festival. Not to mention, it is rare that an Indian film competes in the "World Competition" section at PIFF and The Man Beyond The Bridge has achieved that honour too.
It was surprising to know that the Goa state had rejected funding to this film four years back, but today it has brought international fame to the state. This film is Shetgaonkar’s second directorial venture and is produced by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). It is commendable that he could represent India in international platforms, creating a hopeful picture for many. The film proves that there is a lot of potential beyond the tinsel town which needs to be tapped.

Hiroshima Mon Amour- a paradox on celluloid

Overwhelmingly passionate, true Resnais style, HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR is the story of a French actress and a Japanese architect interspersed with the place as a background. Hiroshima acts as a solid base for the story, leading to a tale of tragedy, longing and tries to ask a philosophical justification to the bombings that we witnessed in history.



Elle and Lui though happily married with their respective partners, but this chance encounter leads Elle down the memory lane drawing parallels between her first lover and Lui. In the passionate encounter as Elle narrates her story of having seen the bombing, Lui tries his best to nullify her claim.

The film throws many questions like whether it is best to have loved that to not have presented oneself the opportunity of being loved? Whether what one thinks is the reality may be negated to being just a figment of imagination. Based on Marguerite Duras novel, Hiroshima Mon Amour (Hiroshima My love) is a paradoxical journey through Resnais lens.

The Director:

Alain Resnais was born on June 3, 1922 in the town of Vannes, on the western coast of France. His career as a filmmaker began when he made his first amateur film at age 14. He studied his craft at the Institut des Hautes ètudes Cinémato-graphiques in Paris, and began his professional career with a series of short films, many of which focus on art and the life of artists, including Guernica, Gaugin, and Van Gogh, which won him an Academy Award in 1948 at the young age of 26. His documentary Night and Fog is regarded by many as the most important Holocaust film ever made.

Hiroshima, Mon Amour, his first 35mm film, won the Cannes Film Festival International Critics Prize in 1959. His later films include Last Year at Marienbad (1961), Muriel (1963), La Guerre est finie (1966), Stavisky (1974), Providence (1977), Mon oncle d'Amerique (1980), Life Is a Bed of Roses (1983), L'Amour ê Mort (1984), Melo (1986), I Want to Go Home (1989), Smoking and No Smoking (1993).

Awareness reaches your doorstep

I had written this one long time back and forgot to post it. Just when I was going through my blog folder I stumbled upon this one.

As we are progressing towards a better future as a nation, there are a lot of issues pulling us down, majority of them concerning women in India. We are a nation of more than a billion but the sorry state of our sex ratio spells it all out. Increasing female infanticide, domestic violence, rise in crime against women show that the progress will be rendered meaningless because of this large disparity amongst the two genders.

Warning signs
Off late issues concerning women are making the headlines. May it be the recent ringthebell.com campaign or television serials like Balika Vadhu, awareness about women’s issues has reached the bedrooms of every household. Launched by human rights organisation Breakthrough India, the Bell Bajao (Ring the Bell) campaign urges people to ring the door bell when they hear about domestic violence in a house. Their impressive ad campaigns with Boman Irani as the ambassador may not have garnered enough eyeballs but have definitely penetrated into a few layers of the society. The world statistics of domestic violence translates into 960,000 reported incidences of violence, against current or former partners every year. Three million women are abused every year by their husbands or boy friends.

Domestic violence doesn’t just occur in lower middle class or poor households but can happen to anyone. Just few days back singer and composer; Adnan Sami’s wife filed a complaint against him for domestic violence. Such news makes us think as to where be we leading as a society. Despite the Indian government enforcing The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act in 2005, crimes against women are reported everyday. Indian women have always been subjected to such atrocities, may it be at workplace, at home or even on the roads. Right from her birth to her death, a woman goes through million experiences that may have harmful effects on her. It is quite worrying that nothing much on policy level is being achieved to curb it.

Losing the Ys
Colors channel of the TV18 network has a new offering, ‘Is desh na aana ladoo’ focuses on female infanticide. The gory visuals used as promos are stark enough to get attention for the cause. The sex ratio is falling at an alarming rate, as more and more people are going in for sex determinations. In rural areas where a lot of people do not have access to sex determination facilities, female infanticide is shockingly common. The parents wait until the mother gives birth, and when they find out that a daughter is born, they go ahead and kill the baby by adopting various means such as strangling the baby, giving her poison, dumping her in a garbage bin, drowning her, burying her alive, starving her, stuffing her mouth with salt, or leaving her outdoors overnight so she dies of exposure. This practice is rampant in parts of Rajasthan, where the baby is put into a huge bowl of milk and killed.


Media watch
Balika Vadhu comments on most social issues against women like dowry, child marriage, infanticide and is highly popular amongst all classes. In India there is a crime against women in every three minutes, one rape every twenty nine minutes and one recorded case of dowry death in every seventy seven minutes. Cases of cruelty meted out by husbands and in laws are seen in every nine minutes. Idea cellular service’s new advertisement has a girl giving it back to eve teasers in truly commando style. For that matter even the viewership of K serials in diminishing as more and more women are hooked onto serials with social messages. As we wake to the problems facing women in India, one does really wonder many more lives do we have to sacrifice till we learn to respect women.

'You’ve got to see two things in Bombay, the Bombay rains and the Bombay girls.'

Debutant author Anirban Bose, in his semi-autobiographical work of fiction, ‘Bombay rains and Bombay girls’ looks at the city from an outsider’s perspective. Though in many ways the book is not about Bombay but about the people and experiences of the city. Like the central character of the story even Bose who hails from a small town came to Bombay to study medicine. A doctor by profession and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Rochester, Bose's story revolves around a small town boy who comes to the metropolis to pursue studies in medicine.

Adityaman, an eighteen year old from a small town lands in Bombay to study medicine and the turn of events in his life teach him a lesson or two about growing up and life itself. Adi is not only infested with inferiority complex but also a great need to be the good guy amongst his peers which often leaves him making a choice between the devil and the deep sea. Lost for choices, he deals with his life single-handedly, making new friends, sending out roses to girls and garnering a dream of becoming the CR (Class representative), a goal he sees as a stepping stone for popularity.

Adi’s friends Pheru, Sam, Rajiv, Harsha and Toshi make this journey interesting with their distinct way of looking at life. Right from being ragged by a bunch of scary seniors to regionalism in college elections to giving him dating tips, they support him in every way by offering their valued advice. As a matter of fact, the author very poignantly touches upon issues like regionalism which has given birth to the “we and “they” feeling among migrants in the city after the recent string of attacks launched on outsiders by a certain political party. The book takes a ghastly turn as one of Adi’s hostel mates; Toshi dies in a plane crash. As Adi and his friends leave on a journey to Arunachal Pradesh, Toshi’s hometown, to visit his parents in a pursuit to bring their friendship to a closure, a series of unplanned experiences followed by a murder mystery leaves Adi and his friends bewildered.

It takes a student’s union strike and Adi’s unconditional attraction towards a classmate to create a rift in their friendship. Will he stand by his friends or offer his services to the ill-staffed obstetrics department at the coercion of his new found love? Will Adi complete his journey towards the far-east to meet Toshi’s parents? As one proceeds through the thirty odd chapters in the book, it gives one a sense of relatedness. As the plot thickens it leaves the readers wanting for more not out of curiosity but out of pity for the protagonist, at certain point even making the reader cringe because of repeated twists and turns in this campus novel. Bose’s narrative style of writing reflects on his choice of words which are over dramatic and sometimes over the top. As the story’s hero heals from his Achilles heel, his journey reminds us of similar experiences that we might have shared leaving us feeling sympathetic towards the hero in the end. The book is titled so because every newcomer in this city often ends up admiring the Bombay Rains and the Bombay Girls.

The journey that Adi embarks upon leaves the reader wanting to know more not out of curiosity but out of pity for the character. The book takes the readers through unexpected twists and turns like a typical Bollywood pot-boiler.


P.S. -Perfect for reads during tedious train journeys. But if you are thinking of buying it, wait till it reaches the local raddiwalah. Not worth spending on a first copy.

Available at all leading bookstores
Price- 195/-

Two faces

America 1970:- “I am proud of my GAY son,” proclaimed a mother marching with her son during a peaceful Gay Pride parade.

India 2008:- “Centre against legalising homosexuality,” reads the headline of one of countries leading newspapers.

My first target is ARTICLE 377. The centre has once again opposed a petition filed by gay right activists claiming that gay sex between two consenting adults amounts to crime under section 377. It is defined as unnatural. What is unnatural? Curbing fundamental rights of an individual in unnatural, his/her right to express is unnatural and most importantly curbing the right to live freely is unnatural. India never fails to sing praises of its democratic approach but aren’t we discriminating against a population of people who have been robbed off their freedom of being themselves? Besides nobody has been given the authority to decide what is natural and unnatural. My only problem with this is how can one be differentiated on the grounds of sex?

My second target is Karran (Don’t really care about your smartass spelling) Joharrrrr. Agreed he was looking for a window to vent out his angst and feelings but he should have been a little sensitive while doing so. God save us from his next venture Dostana (let’s plan a nationwide ban). Popular cinema has been mean and bitchy against homosexuals and in my opinion all these directors should be sued. It surprises me how could we even tolerate such nonsense on screen. The only sane portrayal of a gay character in a Hindi film was by Onir in My Brother Nikhil.

Gone are the days when homosexuals in our country had to live an alternate life, a claustrophobic life, a life that could never satisfy them. I see more and more people coming out of the closet and more importantly taking pride in their identity. It’s a difficult to be someone else on the inside and put up an act for the world. This existence of pretence and shame may even result in dangerous consequences. For instance the Kandivili boy who hanged himself from a ceiling fan and left behind a note saying he was ashamed of being gay.

In spite of two successful Gay Parades in Delhi and Mumbai, a very large section of the society is still unaware of this issue; it needs rigorous media coverage to initiate a nationwide debate. A few years’ back media strongly supported prevention of AIDS and the same amount of awareness needs to be generated about gay rights. Conservatives need to be gagged and a rational outlook towards this sensitive issue needs to be developed.

Cowardice at its best

Just finished watching 'We the People' and realized how opportunist the media has become. Probably they are even thanking their stars that the Delhi blasts occured on a weekend giving them more to talk about, debate about and run their frigging 24 hour channel. Surprisingly the show was called Delhi blasts: All talk no action, I find a paradox in this statement, if the news channel was so intent on action why couldnt they do a show on how action can be guaranteed rather than presenting a doctored show with only "talk" and no action. Why couldnt better governance, citizen safety be discussed for the benefit of all citizens.
Just a day after the blast, India TV seems to have claimed that Mumbai is the next target....the cycle will continue till some action is taken. Just having stringent anti terror laws in the country and debating it to the effect that nothing comes out of it is not a solution, to follow it and make sure that it minimises terrorist activites is important.

I strongly feel that SIMI or IM (Indian Mujahideen) whoever is responsible for these ghastly acts should be strictly dealt with, the government should be held accountable to the public and the opposition should stop making provoative speeches and help the government is possible and if thats beyond their understanding then they should just keep quiet.

Money minter in the pack :)

There are times when I pick a book not so much for the content but for it's colorful coverpage. Hence at the bookstore when I spotted a Violet-orange book which had comething to do with the IIMs , I decided to buy it. Joker in the pack is one such average book. Two bored IIM grads get together and pen down their experience through the eyes of a middle class boy, Shekhar Verma.
The book did manage to hold me till the end, (Yeah, I was looking for reasons to quit thinking about doing an MBA). And I was successful too. As the book proceeds into the life of Shekhar Verma from Delhi, it talks about cricket, bollywood, the effervescent campus life in a shady college in DU. Then comes into picture his girlfriend who makes it to the IIT and he ends up in IIM-Bangalore.
The book slowly tells the tale of his struggles on campus, may it be to survive a hell week planned by his seniors to rag him or managing to score good GPAs all seems to be an extravagant description of a campus life. Thankfully the authors, Ritesh Sharma and Neeraj Pahaljani, did not rant about Shekhar's break up with his girlfriend of three years, otherwise it would have taken away the little charm that the book tries to spell with its youthful approach
As you read the book soon you realize that it has a few elements that any college going kid would relate with.
So if you have a day to spare, do read this one, not so much for the language but just to flashback in your old times.

Favourite stories

These are two stories I loved working on and which eventually added a lot to my life..
Child's play..

For tourists who like to experience the local flavour with local transport and local food, these enthusiastic kids play the perfect guides on the Mumbai Magic Tour
Hello and welcome to Mumbai Magic Tour. My name is Priyanka and I am your guide for today,” says a perky Priyanka Parit (16), one of the five youngsters from non-governmental organization Akanksha as we start a four-hour journey through the architectural and cultural heritage of Mumbai city. We accompany Michael Corwin, a tourist from New York, as we discover the many facets of the island city before returning impressed.

Meet five teenagers from varying difficult backgrounds, Priyanka, Shirajul Khan, Parveen Ansari, Kavita Pawar and Sana, who have been trained by Deepa Krishnan of Mumbai Magic Tours to work as guides for foreign tourists. Among the other personalized tours is ‘Mumbai Local’, Krishnan’s brainchild that sees these children taking foreigners around the city to experience Mumbai’s unique culture in all its forms.

“I was super-excited when our Didi at Akanksha told us that a tour operating company was going to interview us to be tour guides. Plus we were promised a good amount of money — around Rs 500-Rs 750 per tour,” says Parveen (16), a gleam in her eyes. Parveen says she loves to shop for clothes and accessories but also understands that she needs to support her family as well.

“I always used to donate some amount of my profit to Akanksha but I thought that was not enough. That’s when I got the idea to involve these kids from Akanksha in my project. I interviewed 15 children and selected five of them,” says Krishnan. These five children were trained for three months, during which they received training in diction, language and were also made to learn scripts to be brought into play during the guided tour.

For the tourists, it’s a chance to experience the local flavour of the city along with local modes of transport and local food, with bright and enthusiastic kids playing guides. As Krishnan fondly says: “Mumbai Local through the eyes of local people.”

The voyage begins from the Gateway of India and includes spots like Mumbai University, Mani Bhavan, a scrumptious treat at Swati Snacks, a walk through Bhaji Galli in Grant Road and finally, a peek into Dhobi Ghat.

It’s all about learning for the children. Every tour teaches them to handle tricky situations, at times cater to nasty tourists and learn from their mistakes. Shiraj (19), a first year commerce student, says: “On my first tour I forgot to carry the handouts and script. But thankfully because the tourists were not aware of it I managed my show well.” In tight situations, of course, Deepa ‘Di’ is only a phone call away and always eager to help them.

Narrating another incident, Priyanka says cheekily: “While on a similar tour I had to put up with very demanding clients. They wanted to visit Chor Bazaar and Haji Ali that were not part of the itinerary. They were also adamant about buying mangoes in the off season.” These children are not only talented but are also academically inclined. Akanksha has identified their skills and have channelised them into social work and social leadership.

“I must congratulate Deepa for this concept which is so novel and impressive. I was very excited about it,” says Michael who loves to meet local people of the places he visits. He adds: “It’s good to see that these children are doing such a wonderful job.” At the end of the tour, one comes away remembering what Krishnan said: “After all, everybody in the game must get something out of it.”


A soldier for society..

At the age of 80, this man wants the Indian Development Foundation to continue bringing change through an army of volunteers, not fundraising
A soft-spoken man dressed in a humble white veshti and kurta greets visitors with a childlike smile at his office-cum-residence in Jogeshwari. Quite proudly, he says: “I gave up ties and coats a long time back. I can connect better with the average poor man dressed this way.”

Meet Dr Ananthan Ramakrishna Pillai, president and founder of Indian Development Foundation (IDF), formerly known as Indian Leprosy Foundation. As the organization turns 25, the octogenarian ARK Pillai is readying to launch ‘Project Goodness’, an initiative to make available basic education, health and development facilities to all, through the establishment of additional IDF gurukuls, bridge schools for rag-pickers and street children, arranging health camps and blood camps, honouring leprosy cured persons and networking with other NGOs to achieve the mission.

Having joined Central Railway as a junior assistant at the age of 20, Pillai quit despite successive promotions. “I found a government job to be very rigid and binding. I was over qualified, so I quit the railways and joined Clarion McCann,” he says, simultaneously replying to an email and chatting online with a volunteer. “One makes a lot of money in advertising but when I saw acute poverty around me I felt the need to do something for the underprivileged.”

Born in Malvelikari near Allepey, Kerala, Pillai belongs to a deeply religious family and has an array of degrees, ranging from a Masters in Sociology to a Diploma in Advertising and Journalism. He successfully completed his LLB degree from Government Law College and also finished a management course from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mumbai.

At age 44, he resigned from his high-paying job and gave up that lifestyle to be able to serve those suffering from leprosy ¿ and the consequent stigma — in India. According to him there were around 4 million leprosy cases in India before 1980. “Due to the social stigma attached to this disease, people used to fear doctors and hence the figures were on a rise,” he says.

Then, in 1984, he and his wife Shyama started IDF. With its meager resources and sheer hard work, it became one of the few organizations working for leprosy eradication. “My family had declared me insane. No one could believe that I had given up my career for a cause that was at such a nascent stage in those days,” Pillai says.

He adds: “Indira Gandhi had given a statement in the United Nations that India will be a leprosy-free nation by the year 2000. That’s when she urged citizens to work towards this goal.” Around the same time, Pillai happened to visit Germany and Switzerland as an honorary member of international NGOs like the German Leprosy Relief Association and Leprosy Work Emmaus in Switzerland. He is still a member of these organizations and has been advising them on various social projects.

“During one such visit, while collecting funds for the India project, I was questioned by a young German on why India cannot generate funds independently. I had no answer,” he says.

That’s how the self-reliance principle of IDF was born. Without taking any monetary support either from the government or corporates, Pillai raised an army of volunteers instead, a network of lakhs of them. After deep research, having concluded that nothing much had changed despite the Government of India and a number of doctors being involved with the cause, Pillai had made up his mind that awareness and advocacy were the key to satisfactory results.

“Dr Pillai is a media man,” says Dr Narayan Iyer, national co-ordinator of IDF. “He has always used mass communication and various media channels to spread the word about the issue. Through street plays and slide shows he attempted to attract the attention of a lot of youngsters from various schools and colleges in Mumbai.”

Pillai also wanted to put to use his area of expertise — management. Today, IDF has more than 15 schools operational in different states and tribal areas and 10 more in the pipeline. “I wish that my young volunteers take forward the initiative I started 25 years ago and continue with their good work,” Pillai signs off, optimistic as ever.