Slow Down Now

I am a person good with words but bad in dealing emotional tussle in relationship coming daily in the life.

Life appears fast now days. Time to see back and observe becomes short each moment. I now understand why Ghazals, photographs and family history become common discussion topic with old age. They provoke the slow resurrection of the emotions deeply embedded in the memories and heart.

This blog is dedicated to those living life more slowly. Its aimed, but not limited to, those of us grinding along daily in India. I make no claims to be a blogger extrordinaire. These are simply my thoughts regarding this new and exciting movement and how we can apply its principles in our everyday lives.

Most of my friends don't talk about caste, religion, war, life and universe because they consider it as irrelevant to their life. Good for them. But, I refuse to see only these topics as events, Root cause analysis can only give me more understanding about myself, these topics and human nature.

Human nature is so unchanging that we are designed to do same mistakes again and again. The same circle of violence, discrimination, war and greed has hunted down each generation. I feel that deep down consciousness, there is nothingness only. There is no future and there was no past, only our notion of unchanging present. My life means nothing and conscience is an animal instinct...

Slow Down Now, fast forward does not make life new. Its hollowness of our mask of perfection, or holiness, to cover up for sinful human nature. Death is only last end in this circular design of life. I am a creature full of desire, aversion and ignorance and that is bounded by subtle sufferings that occur in day to day life.

A wise man had said that all of us had an unspeakable secret, an irreversible regret, an unreachable dream and an unforgettable love in the life. They say that age gives us wisdom and slowness. Actually, have they ever seen themselves as old donkey? Wisdom never comes with age, only nostalgia we got in the end...

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

New Mile Sur Mera Tumhara



Old Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

Vichaar Shoonya - 4

A republic is a form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch and the people (or at least a part of its people) have an impact on its government.Today on 26th Jan, Salute to the heroes who had given us idea and base of republic nation ...
1- Indian Higher Education Reform: From Half- Baked Socialism to Half-Baked Capitalism : - Devesh Kapur, University of Pennsylvania and Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Centre for Policy Research

2-The meaning of network culture: - by Kazys Varnelis, is director of Network Architecture Lab at Columbia University and editorial board member of Kulturos barai.

3- The Bread And Butter Papers: Tehelka survey finds that Indians read books not for pleasure but for self-advancement. Given our writers, can we blame them, asks Gaurav Jain.

4- A commitment to modernity is one of the distinguishing features of the Internet generation: - by Vir Sanghvi, Indian print and television journalist .

5- I share Chidambaram’s contempt for those who seek to profit from education: - by Vir Sanghvi, Indian print and television journalist.

6- New class of civil servants: - by, S. Narayan, former finance secretary and economic adviser to the prime minister.

Food for thought: The triumph of heroes is that they rise above everything, even our cynical destruction of the very ideal that sustains them. We are more comfortable today with celebrities than with heroes for they are patently the product of the attention we have chosen, sometimes, inexplicably to shower on them. Fall of heroism to celebrity culture and rise of business tycoons without any ethics are dark side of our post economic liberation era. Really, are we becoming less idealistic and more practical day by day ?

Thought on the republic day: "To work for people you don’t need to have a position but if you have a position it is easier for the people to access you”.

Caste and Education

Caste is so complex matter that it is constantly changing and adjusting to new circumstances. This poses a great challenge for all of us because it is deeply embedded in the mind of India and caste attitudes are not fading away even after so much education. Today, Indian society still retains part of the age old caste system and that Dalits still face social stigma even in urban circles. The manners and food habits of those from the lower section of the social ladder are still laughed at by the so-called upper class who are unwilling to let them enter their world unless it is for their benefit.

1- 26th January is approaching near, still a question arises in my mind. Why eminent persons like Dr. Ambedkar, Sardar Patel and Ram Manohar Lohia are reduced and viewed as caste representative leaders in political circles ? 'Blowin' in the Hind' is an article exploring about Dr. Ambedkar on the eve of the Great Indian Republic day.

2- A special report from the 2nd day of Jaipur Literature Festival :

The session on Dalit literature, titled, Outcaste: The Search for Public Conscience was the most provocative of the festival so far, with the panel of Dalit writers, Kancha Illaiah, OP Valmiki and P Sivakami making a passionate case for why the caste system will not go unless Hinduism goes.

“The reason most Hindus don't get worked up enough about atrocities against Dalits is that their conscience is not a public conscience but a caste conscience, imbued with values derived from caste,” said P Sivakami, the Tamil novelist.

Kancha Illaiah, author of Why I am Not A Hindu, turned up the heat further, by stating, “Hinduism is spiritual fascism.”

3- I love my Alma mater very much. But, often it comes in negative light unconsciously.
Now , Banaras Hindu University has picked K.P. Singh as director of its engineering wing. He is accused by the Uttar Pradesh government in a 2007 state medical examination scam , which is set to become India’s newest IIT. As this archival news item show:

Bahujan Samaj Party Government on Thursday recommended the dismissal of the Vice Chancellor of Vir Bahadur Singh Poorvanchal University, Jaunpur, K.P. Singh. The examinations were conducted by Poorvanchal University and Prof. Singh was the Chairman of UPCPMT, 2007.

The Government’s decision to sack Prof. Singh was based on the findings of the nine-member high-power committee. The panel was constituted by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, on June 15 following large-scale violence by students in the aftermath of the results announced on June 14.

Few days ago, The Telegraph breaks out the news that caste is given priority over merit in the picking of the director of IT-BHU.

BHU vice-chancellor D.P. Singh insisted that all norms had been followed in the selection. He told The Telegraph: “The executive council has picked K.P. Singh on my recommendation because he presents us with the best balance between seniority and time left before retirement. I don’t pick people on the basis of their caste.”

Traditionally, BHU picks the senior-most available faculty member to head its institutes. Critics of K.P. Singh’s selection say civil engineer and dean Virendra Singh, senior-most after outgoing IT-BHU director Upadhyay, was ignored.

K.P. Singh and D.P. Singh are both Thakurs, as are six of the 10 BHU executive council members, the critics said. Upadhyay, who has a year before retirement, is a Brahmin.

Still, I have doubt on Mayawati's honest stance of sacking K. P. Singh in 2007 due to her sheer corruption prone nature and dictator style governance. Charu Sudan Kasturi has covered this story in an honest way. But, we are at the peak moment of conversion of ITBHU to IIT. I don't know the truth but caste, corruption and education are intermingled with each other to deepest fathom in our Indian society.

Footnotes: Subhas Chandra Bose, only leader hailed as 'Netaji' (no other leader was called with respect by this title in our Indian history) born today on 23rd Jan; was a leader in the Indian independence movement. Its sad but ours has great history of forgotten heroes...

IT Yeah hai IT - Vish Nite 1992

Info provided by User: This is the "IT Yeh hai IT" song..wrote and composed in 1989 ..but only sang first time to bunch of classmates in 1991..it became " IT anthem" in no time..and this is the last time we sang it together ...with last stanza written a few minutes before the VishNite ..sitting at Mochu's ...I hope junta at IT still know this song :)..if not here it is with a old recording...Have fun!!! Always!!! classmates in 1991..it became " IT anthem" in no time..and this is the last time we sang it together...

3 Idiots and ITBHU Days

The success of 3 idiots lies in reflecting its unusual and strong under layer of moral anger against educational system. I have so much anger or affection for ITBHU that it flows in my several writeups. 3 Idiots bring some fine memories back in my mind. No one in mech08 batch would ever forget the opening lecture given by B.N. Diwedi 'on IT-BHU' in one of the first sessions of Applied Physics Lab. Sripati Sah, Ankit Gopal Pandey, Vikramraj Naidu, Abhishek Khanna, Suryakant Gupta, Abhishek Arora, Shashank Jain are just few names of persons who were similar to character Rancho. The bondage of friends like Hathi, Srikant Bhaiya, Agp, Chandan, Bond, Chandu, Shukla & Chammo boosting each other even at the darkest hours is unforgettable. I missed my college days most in all of them...

Like other good Engineering College in India, I was surrounded by guys discussing Playboy, Deboniar and even Mallu cinema in classroom. Illegal download has flooded pornography, movies, documentaries, TV serials, cartoons, LAN games, software and even study material. That the world of college and sharing, basically was ours utopia.

Our Bakchodi starts through lengthy discussions on pending state of ITBHU conversion to IIT. Add to that the amazing series of sessions, we went through about Share Market, Cinema and Cricket with ripping apart both fiction and non fiction literature. Swades, Matrix Triology, change in Indian Cricket under Ganguly leadership,etc. Few even know about the foreign language movies, and lots of it.

The campus did give me a tremendous dose of education in each and every aspect of my life in every conceivable way. It taught me to respect, to fear, to understand, to empathize, to look up to not only to great but also too good students, alumnus and teachers. Few times, I feel guilty about me not being one of them.

I was a bad student in academics. Somewhat, I doubt that I did not deserve to be a part of that campus as I failed to grab spirit of engineering in me. I ended up in IT company with mechanical background and interest in development issues.

I began to wonder now on the laws designed by me years back for college days. Much has changed since college to corporate and I have to revise all of them to settle in corporate environment. Probably this is what they call change, the laws that were so instrumental years back then are obsolete now. Still, I have kept my passion alive for out of course studies and get me driven...

I hereby declare in full awareness that I detest my job from bottom of the heart. So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life. (rip off from a movie, but true !!!)

I am still in the process of figuring out what I want to do with career/ life etc. I always think on the humiliations of living a life you don’t want, regret for the unlived life, and the empowering potency of being shown you can choose otherwise. I guess that my friends who are in different parts of the world and each of them in a different phase of life can understand my feelings. I always assume that once you realise that it’s your job and happiness inherent is unleashed. If, it is your dream to be an actor, you automatically start performing with the best of your abilities, not really worrying about who you are working with. Currently, I am happy with my present transient state as I am also an Idiot; 'Idiot' really means 'I did it on my own terms'. Cheers for 3 Idiots!!!

Whisper from the past

I bewilder between fantasy and mundane,
I forsake the love left behind by me,
Realizing what the true love was.

Today, a word never to be spoken is heard,
Tinge of innocence is lost in making love,
A bond is forged by warmth of her bosom.

A beat that my heart skipped in love,
A moment of life is lost in the void,
I hear murmur of the heart.

Vichaar Shoonya +4

Everywhere in the country and in the world, people left their beloved homelands to try their luck in this cold, faraway place where all one had to do, was be willing to work. Mumbai is the prime example of city of migrants in India. And America is an example of a modern country found by immigrants only. In times of economic downturn, we forget the values on which the place was built and developed. The sociopolitical climate becomes increasingly destructive towards immigrants in these times as scapegoats are used to help alleviate frustration. We are all citizens of the world–there is no place in the world that we can go and not touch something created in another land, no place where there are not immigrants. In my views, history is made by wandering humans from one place to another for trade, war or to become part of greater civilization. Human is indeed yayaver by nature and settler by culture.

Few web links in mumbo-jumbo post for reading....

Copenhagen Diary : A report on Climate change by Sunita Narain.

A Celebration of Difference: Science and Democracy in India by Shiv Visvanathan

It's The Comedy, Idiots by Shiv Visvanathan

Every child learns differently by Hyderabad-based educator James Tooley

Internet Growth - Key Learning's in India

Internet rules and laws: the top 10, from Godwin to Poe

The Joy of Science and Excitement of Discovery (in the history of modern quantum mechanics)

Jihad against Caste Discrimination

I am always in the favor of inclusive development of backward caste and tribe with general caste. Equality, dignity and merit to GE, OBC & SC, ST irrespective of their caste backgrounds. I always think that government gives equal ground through regulations and reservation in theory only. I don't know that our higher caste Hindu is now accepting lower caste as their equals or not. I always ask elders that has society became more feudal, caste oriented and communal than 60 years ago ? No clear cut answers. People still ask surname with smile to map out the caste and ancestry in their minds. I hope one day caste discrimination will fade away and it will remind us of our ethnicity only.

1- An interview of Shahid Siddiqui, Editor of Urdu daily Nai Duniya about caste politics.

2- Call for first caste census in India.

Officials said the ministry had asked for caste to be included as one of the criteria in the 2011 census, and recommended a differential headcount of the Other Backward Classes and reassessment of their conditions that could lead to changes in the OBC list.

3-Untouchables in Indian polity, 1956-2000: A review from a mainstream political angle. This review is from the book The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty And The State In Modern India by Oliver Mendelsohn & Marika Vicziany

4- MacArthur Foundation "genius" Esther Duflo, PhD '99, field-tests aid programs to find out which ones work-and why.

5- Indian cinema and caste. A well balanced look.

"If you ask a Bollywood filmmaker whether this is actually what he is defending, he will be surprised. He believes that the values he is defending in his film are universal — love, family, country, religion... The word ‘caste’ would never cross his mind. Then how do we say that Bollywood films defend caste society?

The arranged marriage or marriage with parental sanction is an institution that supports, that takes the load of caste society through absolute parental authority when it comes to marriage or any other kind of relationship with the opposite sex. This parental authority is taken for granted in Bollywood films. There is no need to even explain it. The world of Bollywood cinema is so cleansed of caste and religion that one is almost tempted to believe that one is dealing with a bunch of ultra-liberals for whom caste and religion do not define the human personality. But the real reason for this absence is that women must not make the wrong sexual choice that could lead to the collapse of society as we know it. So, the world of Bollywood cinema is shown to be a ‘natural’ world, where upper caste Punjabi men are linked up with upper caste Punjabi women without the problematic obstacle of caste ever coming in the way of their union. Whereas, in reality, especially for the middle-class, caste is an overriding factor in marriage in particular and sexual relations in general."

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I remembered a good quote against racism to finish this article. That would be of a 19-year old single mother from McKeesport, quoted by the Democratic Party chairman for Pittsburgh's 22nd Ward, Khari Mosley, in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, on November 2nd.

Rosa sat so Martin could walk, Martin walked so Barack could run, Barack ran so we all can fly.

Controversy over 3 idiots

There was controversy over 3 idiots over credit with Chetan Bhagat and producers of this film. There is no mention of opening credit in the contract. Only the mention of rolling credits. The whole contract can be seen here. But chetan is miffed that his name appears quite late.

I am producing here stand of my friend who want to remain anonymous. I am in still dilemma that what is right or wrong in this case. One clue about him, he is an IITian. Take a look on his views and spare few thoughts :

The Problem: See this is not about a respectable person or reputable person as such. As an IITIAN, he should maintain the standards, 'arey yaar credit gaya toh gaya', I don't understand why he is making so many media appearances for this, film people like to come in front of the cameras, that is their job anyways, let them do that.

A suggestion: Next time, sell your stories to people, who'll respect your inspirations.

A short comment: Well at this moment, I would also like to comment that if we see the movie Sarkar, the credit has been given properly to 'THE GODFATHER', well theur are some instances which were made different to indianize the story but well still it shows a great respect for Mario Puzo and the filmamkers of THE GODFATHER. Hence proved, two things

1) We as Indians, dont give respect to Indian ppl for their work or we just like so called 'foreign' things to be awarded, remember this is not a question of merit. 5 point someone and THE GODFATHER are masterpieces and liked by mass. So is true for their movie adaptations.

2) Inspirations should come even before the starcast, I believe, whatever you did, you tweaked, did it 99.9% different but still somewhere at the grassroot level you gained something from the base story.

Independent Conclusion
3) I know Chetan Bhagat has gone to IIT (which is actually great and the country still holds its debts for many technological revolutions at IIT, many of them remain hidden or you see some ISRO director speaking about them, never mentioning the institutes, a plight) but IIM (seriously I tell you, most of the management institutions in India, dont provide with a) Mathematical Ability b) Use your engg. skills to tackle any financial problem at hand. They just go for publicity. So, This is a clear indication which shows what IIM education has done to a prominent writer and a technologist, a give-me-publicity personna.

One funny video on youtube about Chetan Bhagat controversy. People who can't see subtitles: Turn on the captions.At the bottom right of the player is the button with a upward pointing triangle on it. Click on it, and then click on CC button to turn on the captions. Those unable to see subtitles, watch it on youtube.

Everybody loves an entertaining news !!!

Hours of crisis at both national and international level. Naxalite, artificial food scarcity, communalism, border problem with aggressive china and disintegrating Pakistan; It would be far better for India if its government gets off those commanding heights of the economy, and addresses basic problem like health care, illiteracy etc. How to make accountability of the corrupt, self-serving political and bureaucratic elite to ensure social and economic justice for those it had claimed ? Cut the services provided to officers and make them managers. Its time for Inclusive and Integrated development.

I had faith in the people. They had good wishes for upheaval of everyone but the path design requires merit not popular support. Hence, I fear populist democracy as sometimes behave like celebrity culture.

Looking for guidance towards west is hopeless. The uniqueness is in individual not in the society. A group is diverse with its unit having own characteristic. Hence westernized concept of One language, people custom and religion does not hold true in India. For the west, democracy means believing in exactly the same things that they believe. Is that really democracy?

Our mass media is far away from the mass realities. It seems like a conspiracy of silence and a conspiracy of denial. Common people angst can be against such corrupt system as all of us remain angry against a system, in which we work because we find injustice is done to deserving people. And voice is raised when wrong is done to people with money by people with power.

Reputed Journalist, P Sainath puts that responsibility if media is - 'to signal the weakness in society. That remains a minimum duty of a decent press. A society that does not itself, cannot cope. The focus is on the spectacular. The long term trends that spell chaos does not make good copy. '

In his insightful book, 'Everybody loves a good drought', he proclaimed - "But at the best of times, press has viewed drought and scarcity as 'events', not 'process' behind it. And belief that only events make news, not processes, distorts understanding. Some of the best reports on poverty suffer from trying to dramatise it as a event. The real drama is in the processes. In the causes. Deforestation has much to with drought. But being a process it becomes a 'feature'. And then disappears int newspaper ghetto called 'ecology'- presumes to be off interest only to rabid 'Greens'.

It is ridiculous to expect the press to transform reality, but it can contribute a great deal by deepening public understanding of problems. Doing that requires some analytical rigour."

Short Sightedness is not dishonesty. And people blame leaders for it. Leaders are chosen in democracy by people only. Hence wrong decision taken by leaders reflect their own wrong vote in choosing representative. The change is going to happen and You have to swim with the tide. You have to be patient and wise enough to choose the right path. It requires a long term vision and fluidity to go towards optimum solution irrespective of showing loyalty towards any school of thought. This requires media of high integrity and better coverage.

But, this is more idealistic talk appear to me. It requires money to run the newspaper or news channel. TV-18 fired 200 reporters but it didn't become the news. In such market condition, the real news is hiding beneath the financial liabilities. Here is the small article by a journalist on our decaying state of journalism. But people love entertainment more than news, then what is the need of crying out loud here.... I always fail to understand why media has marginalised itself more to elites and have no link to what all hundred of millions of Indian are thinking.

PS: I had compiled + composed this post in the anger our media which fail to highlight the causes of problems. Vikram with his more analytical article shed more light in this case.

Movies on big Screen

As RGV jas said - " People often confuse ostentatiousness and excessive materialism as Luxury .Two are different things . Real joy of luxury is self sufficient and very personal. As Howard Roark said in The Fountainhead " Luxury is a limited endeavor. What they want is ostentation. to show , to stun, to impress. They are second handers". Cinema has become more than luxury or ostentatiousness for me. "

I am documenting my life here at my blog. The list presented here is of movies experienced by me on big screen with year of watching and place. It is in the chronological way so that I can study my cinematic development (you don't bother to study). This list is correct and lot of effort has been given in recalling memories. My date of birth is 21st August 1985. Hence, I am unable to recall the movies seen by me on big screen of first 4 years. This post is all for those who enjoy and all those who didn't ~~~

Maine Pyar Kiya -Salempur-1989
Haathi Mere Saathi -Salempur-1989

Kishen Kanhaiya -Salempur-1990
Swarg -Salempur-1990
Dil -Salempur-1990
Baaghi -Salempur-1990
Thanedaar -Salempur-1990

Sanam Bewafa -Salempur-1991
Hum -Mirzapur-1991
Henna -Salempur-1991
Bhabhi -Salempur-1991
Saajan -Salempur-1991
Phool Aur Kaante -Salempur-1991
Do Raaste -Salempur-1991

Vishwatma -Salempur-1992
Zindagi Ek Juaa -Salempur-1992
Beta -Salempur-1992
Deewana -Salempur-1992
Bol Radha Bol -Salempur-1992
Khuda Gawah -Salempur-1992
Bewaffa Se Waffa -Salempur-1992

Naukar Biwi Ka -Mirzapur-1993

Jurassic Park -Kanpur-1994
Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! -Kanpur-1994

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge -Kanpur-1995

Jumanji -Kanpur-1996

Mrityudaata -Kanpur-1997
The Lost World -Kanpur-1997
Border -Kanpur-1997

Titanic -Kanpur-1998
Godzilla -Kanpur-1998
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai -Kanpur-1998

Sarfarosh -Kanpur-1999

Dr. Dolittle 2 -Kanpur-2001
Lagaan -Kanpur-2001
Jurassic Park III -Kanpur-2001

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone -Kanpur-2002
16 December -Kanpur-2002

Terminator 3 -Kanpur-2003

Van Helsing -Kanpur-2004
Dhoom -Varanasi-2004
Anacondas II-Varanasi-2004
Aitraaz-Varanasi-2004

Page 3 -Varanasi-2005
Black -Varanasi-2005
Waqt -Varanasi-2005
Bunty Aur Babli -Kanpur-2005
Star Wars III -Kanpur-2005
Sarkar -Kanpur-2005
Salaam Namaste -Varanasi-2005
Garam Masala -Varanasi-2005

Æon Flux -Mumbai-2006
Rang De Basanti -Varanasi-2006
Anniyan -Ghaziabad-2006
The Da Vinci Code -Ghaziabad-2006
Omkara -Varanasi-2006
Kabul Express -Bangalore-2006
Dhoom:2 -Mumbai-2006
Night at the Museum -Varanasi-2006

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -Varanasi-2007
Bhool Bhulaiyaa -Varanasi-2007
Taare Zameen Par -Varanasi-2007

Indiana Jones IV -Kanpur-2008
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian -Kanpur-2008
The Dark Knight -Lucknow-2008
The Dark Knight -Lucknow-2008
Quantum of Solace -Gurgaon-2008

Dev.D -Hyderabad-2009
Gulaal -Bangalore-2009
Aloo Chaat -Hyderabad-2009
Billu -Hyderabad-2009
New York -Hyderabad-2009
99 -Hyderabad-2009
Night at the Museum II -Hyderabad-2009
Transformers II -Hyderabad-2009
Life Partner -Hyderabad-2009
Kaminey -Hyderabad-2009
Wanted -Hyderabad-2009
Wake Up Sid -Hyderabad-2009
All the Best -Hyderabad-2009
Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani -Hyderabad-2009
Avatar -Noida-2009
3 Idiots -Hyderabad-2009