Frustoo side of me

Warning:Highly autobiographic post of a dejected,frustrated and confused person.

There is a question repetitively asked in the interview - "Where do you see yourself 3 years ahead in life?" The questionnaire cannot tell his/her professional future after 1 year. But the irony of fate stuck in your neck to predict the future. The astrologer inside you is liberated and a future dream mixed with pseudo-ethics pours from the answer. This is ridiculous and complete waste of time in judging potential. This is referenced here as an anecdote to start my story. Because I am finding no clue about me now. The uncertainty about future in determining my life is taking sacrifice of mine simple pleasures.

I am just living life from one day to another day.I had not read any book from last 2 months. The dyslexic inability to read literature is appearing in me. I feel very low like a pebble stone trampled by mob. Ever heard of a person to whom no wants to look but no one knows what to do with him.I am the one.

I have became obsessed with orkut and blog these days. People love sarcastic or romantic blog these days. I had forsaken sarcasm and cannot capture love with empty heart. Hence, none to write here for the readers. My blog is a live example of mediocre manipulation of ideas. I capture, fuse, hybrid and share the concepts in the blog. Inspirational diversion is prime motto to start the blog. I will be dishonest if i say that i do not like people reading my post and commenting on it. I had put 'recent comments' widget in my blog to be give feedback to the people as soon as possible. I am currently collecting and compiling data from the notes. I encapsulate lines from the others and engineer the article in presentable form. Originality given by me is just manipulation and presentation of facts in thematic way. I also put a abstract or sarcastic photograph to attract attention. Fake and cheap...

I do not live in present. I roam in the futuristic dreams and always suffer from the nostalgia of past. I live like phantom in my own life with no awareness of surroundings. I take a ghost walk around the life of others in my thoughts. With the minute observation,the blending & writing of fiction with facts have became my favourite hobby. I cultivate the seeds of others idea to enrich my soul. The barren soul captures only echo of hollowness in return. Hence,I am soaked in the gloomy mood. I am just a nasty creature wanting pity of others through comments. Pitch blackness is in front of my eyes. This is a confession of shallow blogger who always sounds like preacher. Enough frustration to the reader is given by me. Avoid the post. I need either a kick in the ass or chill booze or solitude with silence.In the end,

“Do I continually have to prove to myself that I exist?"

A beautiful poem...

I was watching the movie"The Proposition" when these lines are whispered by the protagonist. I could not find about writer of this peom on google. Enjoy the lyrics......

1

"When?"Said the moon to the stars in the sky.
"Soon," said the wind that followed him home.
"Who?" said the cloud that started to cry.
"Him," said the rider, dry as a bone.

2
"When?"Said the moon to the stars in the sky.
"Soon," said the wind that followed him home.
"Who?" said the cloud that started to cry.
"Me," said the rider, dry as a bone.
"How?" said the sun that melted the ground.
"Why?" said the river that refused to run.
"Where?" said the thunderwithout a sound.
"Here," said the rider,and took up his gun.

And chalte chalte , remembering Ghalib's poetry...

Ghalib ke dost:
Maszid mein baith mat pee Ghalib,
Ek hi ghunt hai kahin khuda na maangle!!

Ghalib:
Maszid mein baith peene de Ghalib,
Ya woh jagah bata jahan khuda na ho!!

Child abuse: Battling the stigma

I bow to ANURAG KASHYAP for his stand against child abuse. Watch the other face of this director as a person of great moral courage. I applaud him for his guts, especially as a man to step up and talk about a very difficult issue. Just watch it and Stand against Child abuse. No comments required...

Must See Links

Just reading few views & counter-views about freedom of expression and moral policing. These articles are must for each individual who thinks and cares about present situation and upcoming future of the society. May be, I am too novice to raise my voice but there is magic in fighting battles beyond endurance and limits.

1- Bloggers can be nailed for views: Verdict by Supreme Court. And, Bloggers unite against SC verdict. Remember if you try to muzzle something, it proliferates. Warning to SC .......

2- Pramod Muthalik has created controversy in Indian Intellectuals view:  Sagarika Ghose (IBNLive Blog): Two Indias are pulling in different directions and Counter view of Sagarika Ghose article : Moral Policing, Socialistalgia and Millikan’s Special Drops, Fussing About Speed Math and Thanks to Gowtham .


3- Mint article on controversial 'Pink Chaddi' Campaign: Gender grouse beyond the bar. The pink-bloomer war against the moral police managed a victory of sorts, but failed to raise the issue that gender injustice in India goes beyond pub-going and Valentine’s Day.

Read also, The critical scrutiny on Mint editorial by an esteemed blogger of India:

Streisand Effect must be in the mind of the blog community by this time now. he Streisand effect is a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to censor  or remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of causing the information to be publicized widely and to a greater extent than would have occurred if no censorship had been attempted. Judging the views is an Individual choice and right. Special link for the people with open mind for fellowship.

Changing Times

I do not talk about society with great concern in general. I came across few links that shocked and shivered me. Times are certainly changing but with faster rate...

For Ultra Modernists: I have long ago read this article about "overindulged and spoilt” British teenagers who will try and learn values and ethics from the families of six Pune doctors. Not given much thought about British brats. Read from this link for knowing in detail about this image below. This baby face boy has created tsunami in British society by becoming father to a child.Forget about safe sex, the girl(15 years) has given birth to healthy baby. In short, Ramchandra kah gaye siya se, aisa kalyug aayega; 15 saal ki amma hogi, ladka 13 mein baap ban jayega!!. (quote created by a fundoo guy)
I always feel that Sex education has become “how-to-do-it guide”. Texts have indeterminate range of meaning if not studied from a proper prospective. There is nothing wrong with the intention of educators but the implementation will provide same results here. We need to challenge the common perception of sex as a recreational activity and present it rather as an expression of the total self-giving of a husband and wife to each other in marriage.

Today, Technology is racing ahead of biology. In Indian context, there is so much money now with IT and BPO boom , shift in social culture has happened. For the current generation, the age of 'full adulthood' - in their minds - may be as early as 11 or 12. Most of the youngsters of any generation do not realize that being modern does not mean giving life into smoking. There is nothing cool about alcohols, drugs and divorce. Old enough to drive,vote,love and smoke does not make you mature from mind.

For Ultra Conservatives: I believe that all fundamentalists/ultra conservative share an aversion for modernity and a hatred of gender equality. I was left speechless on reading these two articles. A layer of blankness had surrounded my mind.

1- If you live in Bangalore [or not] make sure to read this harrowing account of moral policing by local hoodlums.

2- If you are a woman [or not] make sure to check out this must-read post on the red-colored blues. Thanks to Animesh Sir for given two links.

Ultra modernist or ultra orthodox elements must be put on fringes of society for balancing act. I do not believe in democracy but have firm faith in justice and humanity. I stand for my views as a believer that single individual can make a difference. No preachings, its your choice to accept the facts or not...

Green Life

Pokiri, Stalin, Athadu and Bommarillu are 4 Telugu movies seen by me till this date with subtitles. The cultural adaptation to hyderabad was accomplished long ago. But I have to still learn the hyderabadi dialect of Hindi. I learned a valuable lesson in my CST session few days ago.Most of us considered ourself as Indian just because we are born here. Living inside the boundary of India does not make you Indian, but the cultural and social inheritance in your character and behaviour completes you as Indian. I was overwhelmed by such broad view of being Indian.

On lighter notes, my dear friend abhishek arora has gone through 11 test in 35 days in TCS and I have given none till this date. People here are giving me time to understand the work culture and KT sessions are much interactive than imagined. But I like my job because of these three small reasons:

1- No Tie (Hang Neck) culture here. It feels less constraint and more free to breathe without tie.Tie should not be compulsion but a dress put on special occasion.
2- Cab service is provided to its employee, not bus service like its competitors. Even in the time of cost cutting, the company is taking care of employees.
3- Even there was delay in my joining, any huge case of firing by CSC hasn't come into my acknowledge. It makes a safe environment around and better results can be expected.

99% janta will laugh on the points given here but its very personal opinion. One does the job for living only but can always remain honest to himself with less comforts also. Grass is always green everywhere but we make mistakes by comparing colors of grasses.

Go Green: Somewhere I read every email costs $0.001 or so. Eliminating 'Reply to All' definitely will save a couple of thousands a day across the globe. Do not forward mail in heaps and help in making earth a green place. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle for Green IT & earth. Watch 'An Inconvenient Truth' for global warming and climate change issue. It is an eye opener for all of us about global warming.This documentary is available on DVD stores as well as torrents (illegal to download). Otherwise,it is broad casted on HBO on regular interval. Just spare some time on the name of environment. The world must wake up to this reality.

What am I doing with my life?

I am not at the crossroads of the destiny square but this post seems to be pending from sometime. I am highly addicted by internet surfing phenomenon. But I am fan of the voice/opinion provided bt it to million of people. I stumbled across these lines about Internet and likes it very much. 'This World Wide Web is a wonderful invention. It lands you in unforeseen places (virtually though), introduces to unknown people (thanks to blogs) and often proves to be a fruitful way of fighting boredom at office/home when you have nothing worthwhile to do.' One such chance stumbling landed me with an unusual piece of art; a bizarre piece of artistic oddity – Om dar ba dar. The movie came in highlight after Anurag Kashyap comment that a song from this movie was an inspiration of 'emotional atyachaar' beside Underground movie opening scene. But I liked another song Tadpole Terrorist of the same movie. For readers information, the spinner Kachra of Lagaan is the main protaganist of this movie. It makes me nostalgic of old DD days of low budgeted experimental TV serials and Parallel Cinema.

Now,the this spiral vortex image is depiction of my life. I have my own share of problems. Life moves pretty fast. You could miss it, if you don't stop and look around once in a while. I just thought of halting here and look back down the road.

I am very passionate and assertive guy in full mood. Those who know me knew that i have two face of personality like Harvey Dent. One soft spoken, open hearted, happy go lucky philosophy and caring nature; The other side is jhakee, highly charged with rage, foul mouthed and self destructive. The mood swings between two personalities without me being conscious of it. I try very hard to remain far from sarcasm and controversy. But being reactive more than proactive always put me in shit of troubles.

Recently, I chat with a very very nice guy after 10 months and one of mine casual comment just puts me in apologetic and defensive approach. The whole mood of talk went wrong. I screwed my own image by this way. The chant went down after 2 minutes.

I have very bad record of in wrong position or issuing wrong statement at wrong place and wrong time. It is due to my open mouthiness. I try to stay clam and not to comment on private life 99% of time. Free flow of emotion in that 1% just screw it all. 1% has got more weighted and life turning events in my whole life. God help me in controlling my emotion. But how can he/she/it help in this regard, I am an agonist.

Endline: Just lay off my self centered discussion.Watch 'A' rated trailer of next Anurag Kashyap movie 'Gulal' releasing on 13th march 2009.

Free Tibet : 10th March 2009

Dalai Lama and Fidel Castro are two great personalities living in our times which have experienced cold war and communism rise and fall. They have became a part of the world History.Today on 11/02/2009,I want to focus on Tibet only. 10th March 2009 will become a date to be remembered in the history of world. 50 years of illegitimate upholding of Tibet by China will be completed with uncertain future prolonging in this region.

This day is celebrated as Tibetan National Uprising Day. What will happen to the peaceful freedom movement of Tibet after Dalai Lama? He is fighting with inner good to the bunch of stubborn narrow minded Chinese politicians. Despite some encouraging developments, China’s human rights practices remained cause for concern. However, the single biggest threat to the survival of the Tibetan people is China's policy of population transfer aimed at reducing Tibetans to an insignificant minority in their own country by sending in millions of landless and jobless Chinese.

I believe that this freedom movement will turn violent after death of Dalai Lama. The hardest path is to keep going with non-violence, enduring the daily deprivation, the inner pain, but continuing to speak out is suffering. No one will be commendable enough in future to guide a young generation for peaceful movement towards freedom. This young generation of youth has grown into India hearing stories about Tibet,their own country. They are born in exile, the majority of whom have never seen Tibet, but are incredibly passionate to do anything for freedom of their motherland. 'My Kind of Exile' is an essay by Tenzin Tsundue (Winner of Outlook / Picador Non Fiction Competition) ,It is worthy to read by each Indian, Chinese and rest of world about the feelings of Tibetan people.

We Indians are host to Tibetans from last 50 years but our approach towards justice is flawed. We are taking any straight action due to fear of military power of Dragon. Military government in Burma is violating each human rights and has led its countrymen suffer by starvation, body trade and corruption. Prison camps and house arrest is common there for political activists. Developed and developing countries are exploiting undeveloped states for their natural resources without being responsible to there citizens .This dog eat dog chain should be over as soon as possible.

The first principle of free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum. Chinese people has given their individual and diverse opinion for the economic growth. A time will come in the future ,when they will judge their action of closed and uni dimensional thinking. Freedom rings where opinion clashes. It is the depth of society where people of different thoughts co exist and struggle peacefully to make the place better.

Opinions of the people are too rigid about the borders. After studying so much history and culture, the jingoism feeling is still obsessing human civilization around the world. Kashmir, Tibet, Kososvo, Ireland, Philistine and Chechnya are open war fields in the world. Liberty for native people of those places is far more important than any political hanging phase. What we can do is to have atleast correct opinion about transitory situation. The awareness about the plight of refugees and human right violation should be our primary aim. It is a small but important and necessary step in the right direction. Spirituality, Humanism and Socialism is going to be the future of human civilization. But till then, hope is only saviour of us..

Life at Hyderabad

It is hard time for everyone due to economic recession. I am lucky to have job at this moment with CSC.Work environment here is absolutely good. PM and senior colleagues are really friendly.I hope that this will continue in the future. No coding stuff is assigned to me. It is worth to be at unpopular position and tune out of popular beliefs in the society. I am also living with it and quite happy with the life.I love CSC each day. I think the days of joy are few and dejection is everlasting.I am enjoying the moments till this honeymoon period of happy days is over.

Now a secret mantra of job satisfaction criteria:

- If you love your work most on Mondays, you are having a Dream Job.You are passionate about the job and with this kind of commitment,growth is waiting for you in the future.

-If you hate to go the office on Monday(not due to party hangover but because of work nature), you are doing a Real Job. This is the job most of us perform and live a life of quiet desperation. This job is done for paying the mortgages. Future is undetermined here,hence no comment from my side.

Dev D Phenomenon: Dev D is a treat to watch.I have watched in Rs 50 valued ticket in balcony: Talkietown this weekend.Cheap hai na !!! The cinema hall was excellent in the ratio of input money with output infrastructure and services. From the makers of Black Friday, a contemporary tale of Devdas is reality and bold cinematic experimentation. Emotional Atyachaar is rocking the shows around India.

Alienation, while speaking a universal language, needs a local interpretation. Dev D is here to raise the voice of ours:Generation X. It has been long fed by moral grounds and cultural inheritance stuff. The self destructing and rebel character of Dev of contemporary times has just given the local interpretation to the universal phenomenon. Hypocrisy, Identity crisis, emotional experiences are part of all this dark journey of Dev's life. It represents a generation searching for an alien identity in the society. Inability of Dev to attach itself to anything is well documented by anurag in this movie. Soundtrack, camera work and dialogues are superb. Characters are not justified on the basis of ethics is greatest achievement of the film.

Dev D is a dark and underground India that is not depicted by our media,literature and movies. Our bollywood had fallen in the abyss completely till the end of 80s. Rise of new wave thinkers has been a revolt against the non sense stuff given by bollywood in the name of cinema. The death of parallel cinema got unnoticed in mainstream. Anurag Kashyap is the leading torchbearer of new wave. The path of light and fresh air from bottomless pit lifts through dark phantoms of ocean. Kashyap is taking understanding of mainstream viewers of cinema in the direction of art rather than entertainment.

New Hypothesis: When a chain smoker is in the mood of stress, solitude, daze, numbness,joy, excitement or boredom, he wants a cigarette to refresh his mood and think a new idea. First two puffs from the cigarette gives him marginal utility of the investment in the cigarette purchase. All the puffs after it is remaining return of investment. Hence you will observe few smokers throw away cigarettes after few puffs when urge of smoking is over. I want authorized people's (smokers) view over these lines.

Resolution Time: Doing is quantum leap from imagining.-Barbara Sher.
I have taken several resolution this year. I will not eat non veg, pizza, burger and eggs. I will not drink soft drinks, beers, wine. Hence cigarettes and alcohol consumption is avoidable from now on. It is hard to resist temptation but i am discovering frontiers of my willpower. I am rebel in tradition and conservative in habits. Commitment against lust of taste is really going to be tough. One more secret resolution will be revealed after 1 month. Till then wait and watch...

Underdog Nillionaire

Underdog Nillionaire: What a amazing inventory name by me !!!
I will be the hero of this novel & movie if ever created (finance koi aur kar de) only by me. Heroine will be sensuous and no vulgar scene (by Indian standard) will be introduced in it. Leave alone the future dreams, I am portraying as Underdog Nillionaire in the real life. No money of my own in the pocket and working as a technical support team in IT company justify nillionaire and underdog term to full extent.

My motto: If impossible is nothing, then i am doing impossible. (good for T-Shirts quotes)

When people are dieing for creative work like software development in IT industry,I am happy with my job in network security. May be great ambition is lacking in me, but I know my inherent potential and limit in each field of work and life. I think my work in CSC is quite safe and stable with slow growth. KT(Knowledge Transfer) sessions are going on from previous 5 days. 1 week in job (not real work yet) has been completed in the company.Details will be following in next post. I cannot complete my creative writing without mentioning cinema. From the heading,you can easily guess the name of movie.

Slumdog Phenomenon : Many people are loving it. Few people are hating the projection of image of India in foreign nations. I will also give my highly regarded opinion about this movie.---If 'City of Joy' movie is real Calcutta then slumdog millionaire is real India...

Slumdog Millionaire is not an Indian film as the Indian media seemed to project, rather it’s a British film with an Indian context. And so instead of proclaiming this as our conquest on the global stage, we should lament why anyone from our own industry could n’t achieve this feat. Danny Boyle has treated real problems of India with masala story in a vibrant way; He has made what he really wanted but the truth /reality is not depicted. Movie is tour-de-force but runs too fast without having any depth. It reminds me of Salim Javed movies of 1970's with lot of twist and colorful songs. Only melodrama part is missing,the rest of all is here. How many will watch it again for the story? I will watch it only for music,cinematography and acting of young jamal.

Remember Gandhi by British director Richard Attenborough with Ben Kingsley; It was movie of an Indian but what was achieved from it in bollywood except Oscar to dress designer Bhanu Athaiya. Same is with Rahman's association with Danny Boyle. Geniuses of AR Rahman is recognized now abroad because he is original(by international standard also).I liked Slumdog millionaire, but it is nowhere in the class of Salaam Bombay! or Dharavi, which dealt with a similar theme (problems if not theme).For the real face of slums of Mumbai, please go through this well researched article by Neeta.

For concerned people about society and cinema : Smile Pinki is the Oscar nominee in best documentary on short subject category.Put your genuine effort in bringing such stories in mainstream media.

Indian Ocean and Euphoria

Snaps from the Kashi Yatra-2005:Most memorable music festival of my life...

First day at CSC Hyderabad

I am currently in Hyderabad staying with Rahul Priyedarshi. Joining at CSC was delayed but not denied. I am here from hyderabad gate (BHU) to Hyderabad 7 month after graduation. I stayed in city of nawab, Lucknow for long time and city of nizam, Hyderabad welcomes me with honor and distinction. City seems to be nice and full of joy. It seems paradise on first glimpse. First day of work was 'no work' really. Few paper works and interaction with fewer people were done. I have now become full time CSC employee. Feeling is great and working environment seems fine. Talking in crude language, domain is anti hacking and networking. PM (Project Manager) looks like a cool and chill person. 29 jan 2009 is on the verge of end with my entrance in professional world. The last man standing without job in our batch(me) will tell you work experience in coming times. Hail CSC!!!

College versus Education

Never let your college interfere with your education.
This altered statement of Mark Twain is self-realized guideline in mine learning throughout past years.

I am giving you a little disoriented but true thought of my mind on this jolly topic. My idea of education is to unsettle the minds of the young and inflame their intellects. There is only one Education, and it has only one goal: the freedom of the mind. I felt that more you give attention to the academics ,greater will be the intellectual property loss. Academics in India (Partialy IITs &IIMs) is like Wahhabi Islam. You have to submit to teacher with blind faith(closure of mind) and complete loss of scientific temper. Most of the teachers do not change with time and makes education boring. They ensure that more emphasis on written work than learning concepts. They bring same yellow pages of notes to dictate lectures over years.

Student feel academics as:''The sad mechanic exercise, Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.'

The age of innovative thinking and curiosity is dumped down in classes. Securing threshold attendance has became primary objective of the student community. The learning curve will follow a negative slope reaching nearly to zero. From the word "go" in college life, the motto of most student is just to pass and get the degree of freedom.Commitment for studies become zero in coming years. Loss of passion and self motivation for improvement is major disease prevailing in most of the colleges. Its not loss of reason or logic but loss of enthusiasm that bring pessimism inside you. An anger is agglomerated inside student against unjust and inefficient system. A sincere and logical student behaves as irrational in mob or group due to this frustration.The lament of teachers on lack of discipline is correct but no other way is possible. You cannot expect reformation of religion from the priestly class. Similarly, the administrators do not want to evolve with changing times.

So what are the choices remaining for the students in this passive environment?

Student politics damage more career of the student than college property destruction in universities. All of the student submit to the will of management in professional courses.But this is not the way to have inefficient people upper edge to you. I personally stands against the system. No system is perfect, we can not make it perfect also. We have to try for excellence with limited resources.

No man who worships education has got the best out of education.... Without a gentle contempt for education no man's education is complete. ~G.K. Chesterton

Both the student administration have to cooperate with each other with. Questioning on authority should not be taken in negative percepts by administration. Transparency in both economic & administrative decisions should be there with involvement of alumni, students and teachers, not just few self proclaimed youth leaders. If neither of us stand up against minor unfairness, nor we will have enough courage to stand against bigger crimes.

India vs U.S. education system: Sabeer Bhatia view here---

The Indian system of education is “knowledge-based”, while in the U.S. it is “inquiry-based”. The former encourages rote memorization, whereas in the latter students are encouraged to ask questions. In a fast-changing world, where knowledge is becoming obsolete every few months, it is more important to have “thinking” individuals who ask questions and create new products/ processes than individuals with a lot of knowledge. The other aspect of U.S. education is that educational institutions attract the best and brightest from all over the world. So, you get a very competitive environment, which brings out the best in one. The mantra of “meritocracy” extends beyond education. As a result, you have great companies where merit and ability are more important than seniority. Institutions in India tend to value experience and seniority over intellectual ability and creativity.

Bottomline: The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men. ~Bill Beattie

Previous brilliant articles by author about teacher and student relationship--Young Minds & Teachers and Movies for Teachers. For more quotes about education, read this;

Obama everywhere

Books read in 2008

I am enlisting the names of books read by me in 2008 with their background and my feedback.I also embed here their original language of creation and mine language of study (either Hindi /English). This is done because I believe that the thinking pattern of author is reflected much in original language of his writings. The emotional binding content between reader and book is somewhere lost in translation / transliteration. Ratings are highly personal.

A Thousand Splendid Suns-Khaled Hosseini-English--7.5/10
Slow paced and Heart wrenching story of a woman in Afghanistan.

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life-Lance Armstrong-English--8/10
Inspirational autobiography of a sports person.

Lajja-Taslima Nasreen-Bangla(Read in English)--8/10
Story of Hindu family living in Bangladesh in religious riots.

Midnight's Children-Salmaan Rushdie-English--8/10
Facts interwoven with Fiction.Beautiful art of story telling with post Indian sub-continent independence background of a Muslim family.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn-Mark Twain-English-7.5/10
Journey of young and rebel boy in 1870's American dropout with strong remarks on orthodox society practices with ton of laughs.

Smaran ko pathey banane do -Vishnukant Shastri-Hindi-7.5/10
Detailed and poetic autobiographic epilogue of important personalities that influenced the writer's life and literature.

Ghumakkar Shastra-Rahul Sankrityayan-Hindi-7.5/10
An inspiring push for young minds to travel in the world with his autobiographical experince.

Animal Farm-George Orwell-English-9.5/10
A deep and sarcastic look at Stalin era communism with simple narrative and absolute masterpiece.

Sanvatsar- ‘Agyeya’-Hindi-8.5/10
4 brief psychological essays on time and human consciousness.

Garden of Essays-Firaq Gorakhpuri-English-8.5/10
Essays for all the seasons of life with wide diversity in topics.

Kim-Rudyard Kipling-English-7/10
Adventures of young English boy with Buddhist monk across India in 1900;

The Pearl-John Steinbeck-English-7/10
Short novel about Poverty,Lust and Luck of a mankind intertwisted with a simple story.

Srimadbhagvadgita-???-Sanskrit(Read in English)-10/10
Is anything needed to say about this larger than life book?

Srimad Dayanand Prakash-???-Hindi-7/10
Biography of Dayanand Saraswati.

Anamdas ka Potha-Hazariprasad Diwedi-Hindi-7/10
Struggle to know the ultimate truth by a young sage in ancient India.

Gunahon ka Devta-Dharmveer Bharti--Hindi-7/10
Compelling novel about man-woman relationships and traditions set in Allahabad of 1960's.

Volga se Ganga tak-Rahul Sankrityayan--Hindi-9/10
Chronological migratory detail of human from 6000 BC to 1940 AD ;15 short stories with focus on social and cultural evolution in India.

Life is no bargain-Indira Goswami-Assamese(Read in Hindi)-7.5/10
Autobiography of this prolific writer and inner views of changing times in her life.

Freedom at Midnight-Larry Collins & Domanic Lapierre-English(Read in Hindi)-8.5/10
Honest opinion and detailed account of Indian partition and Independence.A must read for learning about Indian subcontinent in 1947;

The Old man & the Sea-Ernst Hemingway-English-7/10
Saga of constant struggle of man and nature depicted with only 2 main protagonists.

Swades:5 years onward...

Swades:We, the people(2004)
...aka Desam (2004) (India: Tamil title: dubbed version)
...aka Our Country (2004) (International: English title) (USA)

Swades is a kind of movie which grows bit by bit after watching every time…
Personally,anything good spoken about Swades is less;For me its SRK’s career best till date. I did not watch it with the help of download culture of college but walked into theater for first show. I walk out of the hall being a different person. Three hour feels like a journey for rediscovering of own roots.

A masterpiece in Indian Cinema;Why?
Cinema is an art. Art express truth by false symbols. It tells us about abstract ideas or ground reality through eyes of filmmaker. Film is technical artistic medium. Art provokes our thinking and emotion.The medium can be cinema, literature or painting. It brings a change in our thinking pattern and view of the world. Swades has changed the life of various NRI and they return to India for making it a better place. It pushed a idea of change into practical reality. Change offered by film on society should be fundamental criteria for evaluation of movie. But most critics venture into land of surrealism, not reality.

This movie is simple story devoid of all makeup required for a beauty of movie. It is a cinema of documentary style but simplicity was its high point. It was not well received at box-office as people were not yet over with Lagaan hangover. It connected very well with the NRI audience because it was narrated through their perspective.

Movie deals with problem of India and Indians: We the people.
There are no iconic or mythological representation of hero or villain in this movie. There is no mind twisting plot or hostage situation. The characters are real and no larger than life concept is introduced. It is a story of protagonist return to his native land. His views are evolving by becoming part of the ground realities and a feel of self realization. The conditions surrounding characters are not only in reel life but exist in our real life. Person in the movie turns from a esteemed position to push society for overall development, not only growth of few elite or privileged groups within society.

Mostly in typical bollywood movies, filmmakers tries to issue a problem and then gives a fictional/innovative solution. Most of the solution provided by them are violent and abrupt. Every film exaggerate the situation and points few people as villains. They eliminate them by violent means in the end and establishment of ramrajya/utopia is presented to viewers. Just Pure hypothesis and spoon feed of escapism. There are ups and downs but a consistent gradual change is missing. The world is not simply black or white but has a variable shades of grey in each individual's action or words. It makes the world more puzzling and perplexing choice between right or wrong. Hence, most of the films fails to reflect the facts and became propaganda of fictional solution.

They only move society for revolt against corrupt system. Revolt is not the solution but a zenith phase to dismantle old system. The working of new system will again fall into the persons with different faces but same thinking patterns. An individual revolt against the working system because he has nowhere to run or hide. He is suppressed or tortured and with all resources, hope is taken out from his life. He is pushed for the last option: Revolution. Rebel person lives on fringes and he fights for survival not living. Still the eternal recurrence of problems occur in society because the solutions are not accepted by the people. But a stable society needs to flourish where an individual and his thinking not just exist but also grow.

Several movies left vivid influence on ours life. But they exist just as an idea in the trenches of memory. They are only used in philosophical/cinematic discussion. Only dialogue spitting from commercial films are widely accepted by masses and idea of struggle against unjust system excite the intellects. Talks only,no implementation....

Remember, Swades is the next generation of cinema.Why?
We have to remember that tall peaks are not always better than long plateaus as true greatness must include protracted excellence. Its a consistent and gradual path of self realization.

Swades is the new level of maturity in our views. It tries to reform the society not by guns but by education, awareness and rebuilding infrastructure. The reformation is more essential for growth of society and civilization. It helps in eliminating unjust laws and orthodox tradition by non violent methods. This movie does not enforce mutation but offers a gradual evolution in our view toward cinema, life and everything. It is middle of path movie which is neither artistic nor typical bollywood. It was not a pardesi venture of Brit/American/NRI but swadesi attempt by Mr. Ashutosh Gowariker and heavy accolades to him for his sincere efforts........

For better depth of discussion go through this weblink on pfc.

THE DELHI MANIFESTO

I have got a mail from the Nitesh;It was a manifesto about Indian cinema and cinephiles.;
Content---
Our manifesto is up on Indian Cinema, do read it chip in your support and spread the word. The more we can gather over the months will help in the cause of seeing cinema in the right direction.
Original Link
THE DELHI MANIFESTO

• Our cinema screen has become an ill-constructed, and conventional portal to a world we aspire of, rather than a mirror, which reflects us.

• Our emotions are guided by leitmotifs placed deftly, and religious beliefs exploited.

• Our spirit of inquiry has become dead and we have been reduced to mere receivers in the process.

• Cinema and television has replaced interaction with imposition of thought. Its thought. An artificial, fake and ill-created thought, a manifestation of our needs to escape ourselves.

• The medium has become a symbol of cheap entertainment, devoid of any examination of the form, and a victim of our collective need to create personalities, perfect alternate universes, and images of our aspiration.

• Our criticism has become trivial. Stories take precedent over the intrinsic qualities of the cinematic medium.

• Our film lovers are snobs, indulging in their wholehearted pseudo-intellectual diatribe, condemning the ignorant, and the ignorant have become so used to a cinema that’s meager that they are satiated with films from the West.

• Our parallel offerings remain strictly entrenched in the tradition of the mainstream, and hence, are versions of the same, rather than its replacements

We reject a system that encourages the above, despite its realization, and seek:-

a) To incite discussion on the possibilities, limitations and viability of the application of the auteur theory as a critical prism.

b) To use criticism and our theories to both champion and strive for innovation and cutting edge in form, form and content.

c) To attempt a formulation of a pure love for cinema, a middle ground between the pseudo intellect of the snobs, and the ignorance of the unknowing, and attempt to mobilize their film loves to this new ground.

d) To attempt a critical theory that moves beyond the supply of the story and the statistical rating points.

e) To observe, notice, and champion upcoming films, filmmakers, and technicians, who remain obscured in the looming shadows of commerce and a faux parallel cinema.

f) To champion cinema that creates dissonance, repulsion, interpretation, confusion and discussion rather than loud claps, whistles and scrupulous satisfaction

g) To work towards a film love which adopts a middle ground, to reinstate the cinema director to his deserved position, to celebrate Indian cinema of the past and the present, to examine its potential, we propose ''The Delhi manifesto.”
- A Delhi Suburb, 1st Jan 2009

SIGN IN:-
People who agree and think we are in need of a dire change.In the way our cinema, our social realm functions, support us.Leave a comment with your name/profession/country to add to the list and spread the word.The vote of support is open to the world.

Signatories

1) Supriya Suri
2) Satyam
3) Kshitiz Anand
4) Ronnie Sen
5) Anuj Malhotra
6) Ankit Choudhary
7) Indranil Kashyap
8) Srikanth Srinivasn
9) Nitesh Rohit
10)Himanshu Rai
11)...

Being Himanshu Rai

You cannot imagine what it feels to stuck into the body of Himanshu Rai. It is like burning desire to become free from the clutches of emotional attachment. To carve a niche for something, neither fame nor money. It is constant pursuit to search for true meaning of life. The abstract feeling of escapism with the relations, materialism and world. Something inside is pushing me to rebel against mundane and sensible.

On seeing images, videos or natural beauty, a feel of transformation through barriers of time and space is achieved. The characters of the image get me hooked to their life through emotions. I rise and fall with their hopes, dreams and struggle.

We have become vast in our information about past and future but our present has become limited somewhere during this process of discovering time. Time experience becomes relative and feeling of pulse/second arises i.e. I became time conscious. When you are trapped in a remote situation, there is loss of sense of time and place in mind. An urge to run away or hide emerges from inside. Sense of what a wonderful world just sublimes away!!!

I was born in Neverland, traveled far in Bohemia, searching for Terabethia and want to die in Utopia. My body is rigid at one place but my sub-conscious(soul) wanders like Yayaver [A Hindi word, meaning an avid traveler.. or rather a person who is constantly on move ] in divine space filled with ideas. I am in Transit world traveling through time and universe. This world is cruel place where bullets are more exchanged than ideas. People preserve dead but ignore the living around them. Just want to say: Good bye cruel and chaotic world filled with everything but for whom ? Cosmos only.

From pages of diary--

Zerkalo(Mirror) : I am watching mirror at this moment of late night. Chaotic hair style, rough beard (facial hairs), untrimmed mustache and philosophical gesture adds charm in it. I am amazed by the sharp smile which seldom appears on my face. I look deep into my reflection of my eyes and feel the unlimited potential in myself. Now, the mirror takes me through it into deep and uncorrupted part of my soul/consciousness.

I am thrilled by thundering of ideas with a tinge of vanity inside chaotic mind. Then a sudden vacuum appears. Solitude inside me suddenly grows infinite in the silence. First vanity, then feeling of nothingness appears in mirror. I do not become mere observing protagonist but converts into the butterfly of chaos theory. Walls of time surrounds me before a feeling that we are more than a speck of sand in the universe.

I am not even bored by gazing a familiar face again and again. But the feeling of being just a stalker in present haunts me to do something. Everything will be lost in time. Only infinite and zero will prevail in future of nothingness....

2009 in Blogworld

Y2K +9=2009
I finally woke up on blog-land to wish my readers happy new year. All of us human suddenly go into mass hysteria about a 'much talked and less known event' (like Y2K),then one by one recover from the impact.Same rule is applied for this new year celebration also.

About previous year: What might have been abstract, the remaining is perpetual. A wonderful void in professional life..

New Year 2009: No Resolution or Commitment for anything. It is well said that things which matter most should not be at the mercy of those things which are of least value. I am fighting with me for priority list of important things. Only an idea to start a new blog to gather interviews,speeches and thoughts of parallel India/World is in my mind. Technology can only provide time and cost saving solution but its about old habits. Even after the advent of newer technique, the implementation fails due to lack of will power. Knowledge can be generated by gathering of information both tacit and explicit.Wisdom is one more step ahead of knowledge.

"Facts and data are the fundamental building blocks of intelligent thought and action, but in themselves, have little value until first, they are vertically integrated into patterns of useful information, and then second, these patterns of information are further vertically integrated into useful knowledge. Value rises exponentially with each degree of integration, and sometimes -- when accompanied by a bit of experience and intelligence -- a bit of wisdom can result."[ref.]

Also,I will revise 'Sparsh' to edit grammatical mistakes and to remove the traces (in heaps) of copied sentence. I will try to be more neutral because hate/love can blur the just decision. No bollywood bashing from now on as sarcasm is veiled violence. And for change of mood: Life has a way for rewarding those that back themselves.

Word of the Year---
P2C2E : Process to Complicated to Explain.
I feel B.H.U. tender process reflect the true meaning of the word.

For readers, Never suppress your curiosity while searching about a topic. It may be about latest trend in fashion industry or issues like global warming. I had ventured into various web links of Wikipedia until becoming mentally exhausted,not bored. Be Diverse, Dynamic and Distinct in life. Just do no walk the line,follow the middle path.....

Wah Kanpur,Ahh Kanpur!-3

For reading the series of: Wah Kanpur,Ahh Kanpur!-1st and 2nd.They were on funny side of life at Kanpur ,this one on the reality side...

This is an edited compilation of discussions on online forums;
"Kanpur is a microcosm of what most of India is like in a nutshell; The vast majority of people are too caught up with making with their economic and caste problem and a little time to realize the importance of basic civic sense (keeping the city clean,obeying the law etc.). The solution to the problem, like the rest of India lies in uplifting the poorest sections of society(which also form most of the population!) through education and health care. Its sorry to say but few most educated residents of city for don't pay tax or electricity bill, etc but still Kanpur belongs to one of the largest revenue generating cities of India.Shamefully amazing....

No city in India, however big,is completely free from basic/infrastructural problems.However,most cities which have now become big players in terms of economy etc. took some bold initiatives. The reason why they are now on the world map, though, is that they've all taken the plunge, and gone ahead with liberalization and transparency in governmental system,despite their problems.

First and foremost reason for that is insufficient power supply, secondly the corruption. But this will require what most of us already know...selfless and capable politicians (i.e. visionaries).Do anyone has known what People from non-Hindi belt think about UP and Bihar? They talk about both the states in the same breadth. When you will leave your city (also state) for the job location to Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai or Hyderabad, then you will realize we are behind them atleast 10 years in infrastructure facilities.

Literacy rate of Kanpur is 77.63% which is well above the national average.Kanpur is home to several educational institutions which have made it a popular educational center. IIT Kanpur, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute (HBTI), C. S. J. M. University, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, and GSVM Medical College are few top colleges from the city.I feel especially bad for IITK, since it has the potential to support high-tech start ups, but it is isolated in its ambitions. But they are national or state level colleges hence nothing solid is achieved for city on local level. Hence, devastating un-utilization of human resources.Only coaching mandi was successful new venture established by young entrepreneurs few years ago.

When too Tier-I cities are now fully packed,the IT and BPO companies are turning to Tier-II cities for educated manpower and more opportunity of growth. Many Indian cities have already established themselves in software and call center businesses, and it is too late for Kanpur to enter this race. Kanpur could be an especially bright prospect for industries in areas such as Electronics, Photonics and Biotech (because it has been an industrial base in the past,and because of its proximity to research institutes like the IITK, IITD, ITBHU, DRDO, HAL etc.)...which unlike software are not yet well established in India. But no place can lure industrialists with a 10 hour power outage a day.

The problem is power, water, transportation etc. will all have to drastically improve and huge amount of investment is required. Where do we get the money from ? (unless the govt. takes action immediately); Subsidiary problem like Road and Airport also exists here. Highways are slowly building and CNG buses has reduced air pollution level. Flights to Delhi were started but was closed because of lack of passengers. Air Deccan closed its service and Indian cricket team still travels by road from Lucknow airport to Kanpur for cricket matches. Airport is not to worry fact for Kanpuriyas. Hum nahi Badlenege attitude at its zenith...

I was saddened by reading this stanza on a social networking website about Kanpur. It quotes -"Does any Kanpuriya remember 'V.N. Prasad'? In two years he very much transformed the city from a dead city to a rejuvenating one. It was he who started vision 2010 involving citizens and leading industrialists. Suddenly Moti Jheel was a favorite place to spend evenings and weekends. The deadly roads across the city which claimed scores of lives were re constructed. His honest approach made things possible. But within one and a half year he was transferred. 3 million plus people of Kanpur lost a battle to only say a score of politicians who got V.N. Prasad transferred from the city. Reasons? B’coz Prasad didn’t let the evil politicians get control of tenders for roads and other infrastructure projects in the city. The whole city kept shut and didn’t say a word. No amount of agitation and protest was done. Why? Because have stopped saying NO to nonsense happening to them."

In summary, Kanpur needs responsible citizens and political leaders. But do not want to spit about 'much talked, nothing done' situation of industries shutdown at Kanpur. Did anyone of us know about Aravind Adiga, the prize winning writer of "The White Tiger" ? This article was written by him in 2005 about the pollution status for TIME Magazine. Kanpur was again on the world map but for wrong reasons. Nothing has changed much since then....

Mention about Gutkha Problem in the next post....

Wah Kanpur,Ahh Kanpur!-2

Whats in the name? Really if you agree then read further from previous post about Kanpur...

The turning point in the history of Kanpur came when it was made one of the most important military stations of British India. It was declared a district on 24 March 1803. South of were the British infantry lines and the Parmat parade grounds. Indian infantry occupied the space from the present Chunniganj to the Christ Church College. The Companybagh was laid in 1847 and the construction of the Ganga canal was commenced in 1854. In 1862, Brits built a church called All Souls' Cathedral in memory of those killed in 1857 mutiny; renamed the Kanpur Memorial Church, it still stands at what was the north-east corner of Wheeler’s entrenchment. The marble gothic screen with the famous `mournful seraph’ was transferred to the churchyard after independence in 1947, and in its place a bust of Tantya Tope installed at NanaRao Park. The British contributed to charitable causes in the city by building the "Ursula Horsman" Hospital, the "Hallet" Hospital, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute and by protecting the Allen Forest (now a Zoo) . Most of these are now renamed, though a lot of residents still call them by their old names. The distortion of names is most visible at the railway crossing bridge next to the Railway Station, where the now-closed Murray Company is conveniently called Mari (Dead) Company.

'Philkhana' ground is unique name but current generation does not know about it due to lack of proficiency in Urdu. 'Phil' stands for elephant in Urdu language. Elephants serving in British army were host of that place. 'Somdutt plaza' is named after 'Som Dutt' who was cousin brother of 'Sunil Dutt'. Great connection na...

About something more unique trivia is about 'Naveen Market'. It was named after famous Hindi poet and writer:'Bal Krishan Sharma 'Naveen'. If you have heard about this rebelling stanza from his works-"Lapak chatteh jhoote pathe jis deen dekha mane nar ko, socha kyon na aag laga doon iss duniya bhar ko, Phir socha kyon na tentuaa ghont doon us jagpati ka, jisne yeh ghrineet swaroop diya apne hee kreeti ko".

Name Trivia:
Forget about name change of Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Bombay or Calcutta. For those interested in the World's Most Useless Knowledge, Kanpur can hold a record of being the city, which has changed the spelling of its name the maximum number of times! Between 1770 and now, it has changed a whopping 20 times – thus averaging a mere 11.24 years per change. For those with absolutely no work, the list runs as follows: Cawnpoor, Caunpour, Caunpore, Cawnpour, Cawnpore, Kawnpore, Cawnpor, Cawnpour, Kaunpoor, Khanpore, Khanpura, Khanpore, Caunpoor, Khanpoor, Kannpur, Cawnpour, Caawnpore, Cawnpor, Cownpour, Cawnpore, Kanpur!!!!

Numerologists, who make their theories to fit history, have claimed that the name Cawnpore is most suitable for industrial development and Kanpur for progress in education. Wah!

I do not roam around the industrial area in Dadanagar but had surfed on the lanes of Aryanagar in the evening for chick watch. Coaching institutes at Kakadev or Rave has provided now better alternatives to spend your evening season in bright mood. Greenpark Stadium and sports hostel have been in highlight more often for mismanagement than facilities. Kaif, Raina and RP Singh are talents of this sports hostel only. Greenpark (never seemed green atleast in my time span) became infamous for entrance of dogs in the international cricket matches.

Hostile marketing and versatile bargain technique in Sheeshamau is place to venture for ladies. I prefer Rahmaani Market above all for shopping. Oh, How can i forget about mentioning Gumuti? I was confused first that they were pan shops; Then get the real picture that they were railway crossings..

Anyone know about this kanpuriya phrase, then please explain meaning of it:"Jhade Raho collectorganj, hataata khula bajaaja band". Folklore can go like unending myth but let me take a halt for next post...

Well do you know:Where did Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened it’s first Media lab outside USA ? That is Kanpur.

Wah Kanpur,Ahh Kanpur!-1

I had not taken birth on the land of Kanpur but my heart belongs to here for ever. I have fist arrived on the soil of Kanpur on 9th July,1994. I was on the verge of completing 9 years of my life. Half of the previous life was passed in the hills, Nanital and remaining half was spent in the small town, Salempur. Kanpur was contrast to them in all ways...

Kanpur is shown in the films very few times despite its metro nature in Hindi heartland. I had watched 'Bunty and Babli' just because it has 5-10 scenes filmed in the Kanpur. And in the 'Dhadak Dhadak' song,when AB jr. is standing on the train top at the background of railway bridge on Ganga river, the cult movie become 'paisa vasool' for me. I recall with this scene about the train on narrow gauge (now converted into broad gauge) piercing Kanpur through middle and Doodhiyaas both in and out of train rushing back to kannuj, farukhabad....

And now on screen has come the clincher - Tashan. No film has used a city so intrinsically in its screenplay as Tashan does for Kanpur. Bachchan Pandey (Akshay Kumar) and his antics as Raavan, crimes as an electricity thief, dialogues as a collection agent, sighs as a Roadside Romeo and most stunningly, his language are so Kanpuriya that its unbelievable!

And after a high-voltage fight scene, Saif pays homage to the city of Kanpur in a perverse sort of way by saying – “In logon ke beech mujhe zinda rehna hain, to mujhe akalmand banna padega, khatarnaak banna padega, Kanpuriya banna padega…”

I heard a string of decorative words in my first season at the school. Kanpuriya people blend slang so fast with full flow of pure hindi that kanpuriya dialect become most sublime language in the world. For example mumbaiya word 'Raapchik' can be exclaimed in continuous streak of four different words prevailing same sense: Behtareen, Chaukas, Sateek, Jhakaas.

Koi Sagaa Nahin…
Gulzar’s one (self-acknowledged) act of plagiarism is the famous line from the 'Bunty Aur Babli' title song… (Aisa) koi sagaa nahin, jisko (humne) thagaa nahin. This, in turn, is the super-famous punch line of the super-successful 'Thaggu Ke Laddoo' of Kanpur. Known far & wide for his laddoos, Thaggu got his name from his grandfather, who started the shop and was particularly ashamed of using sugar (a videshi product) against the call of Gandhi. In an allusion to Gandhi’s verdict that anybody using foreign-made sugar is actually robbing (thago-ing) the nation, he called himself Thaggu – and the name stuck till date as a super brand! Intensive research is currently on to figure the origin of the other famous product of his – the Badnaam Kulfi. Thaggu’s confidence in his products shows through one more of his punchlines… Mehmaanon ko mat khilaiye, tik jayengey!. To know more about communist poori and apradhi aata, log on to Laddu Special.

You can also get 'Makhan Malai' at Meston road. It is brilliant and worth to taste..Not to forget south indian restaurant opposite to the IIT gate or Lucky Restaurant at Awadhpuri on G.T. road. The last stop of the Veggie Express has been identified in the city of Kanpur is Gyan Vaishna: A sattvik eatery, situated right next to a traffic junction (which, in turn, is very close to railway crossing) at Jareeb Chaukee. So, even if you do not get run over by a train, auto or bike while trying to enter the restaurant, you will find eternal bliss in their ghee-laden preparations of aloo gobi, daal tadka and fresh rotis. And they some how manage to gauge your fullness. So after a while, the benign waiter smiles and provides tissues and water - without trying to hard-sell their mithais. Priceless!!!

.............I love Kanpur...............

G 9 at ITBHU

This work is an art of pure imagination and any relation to dead or alive individual is purely coincidental. Any similarity with real human can be considered as pure coincidence.This jingo is so common in bollywood unlike hollywood movies but it can work here very well for my protection. I have pulverized the facts with fiction but this story can be confirmed unofficially from any alumnus of our esteemed college.

This is not an urban legend traveling in the lanes of ITBHU. G9 is not any mythical term coined by me. It consist of 9 distinguished teachers grouped together for greater good of majority. G9 had been constituted by 9 people who are still living legends in their own backyard of BHU. But, it is a taboo to speak about them in the department. I was astonished by the fact that even blogs and social networking websites (orkut, facebook or Linkedin) do not have any mention of them. It was their charm or horrifying Deja-vu.

I am not mocking at them through public blog. They are well respected gentle and elder men. I RESPECT them for their concerns about degrading morals and academically uninterested students. I just want to give "Jhaadu ke Jhappe" to group G9. They really need a big hug from all of the IT students. I am not sure of the instant reaction but they will behave different after 1000 hugs. There is a dashing line in the movie 'The Dark Knight': You die as a hero or live long to see yourself becoming villain. It can be molded for them as : You live at a place for short time like a hero or live long there to see yourself becoming villain in the eyes of the coming generation. Cafeteria table reserved in student section by a privileged group of teacher is living example of this quotation.

PCU is (now retired) the prominent name in this pseudo group. Either, I do not know the names of other persons or (even if know) I will not reveal in the blog land. Discipline is their weapon of mass destruction of moral of uneducated (non learning technical engineering student). Solution to the problem of unwillingness of students to study as geek was devised by screwing them with grades and compulsory attendance. Fakka is also used by them for breaking heart of a rebel student. This solution can achieve short term focus on study with uni focal on theoretical (no tutorials) subject. But long term loss is immense. With that mode of teaching, student moves away from the learning and shifted its focus on shortcut route of success. He/she consider these well wishers as their enemy.

An environment of fear clumping discipline is made in the department. Lack of conversation and feedback from each other creates a communication gap between student and teachers. Knowledge can only pass through bridge between them; Questioning of authority by students is taken as negative perceptive in this group. For your update, Disciplinary committee (DISCO) constitute of majority of members from this G9.

Point to Note: Discipline cannot be imposed on anyone against his/her will, especially on adults. Discipline is a self applied phenomenon. Disraeli had quoted ''You cannot make men virtuous by acts of parliaments''. A student should fear from administration only on violation of rules. Nothing less than this should be accepted. Respecting teachers is important virtue of the student. Few teachers tend to demand it from students. Respect can only be earned by command not demand. Command comes from knowledge and compassion, not from the whip.

An Engineering student tends to enjoy the personal life and do not pay attention to the academics. A sincere student spoiled his one year in the rough IT culture. He meets several asshole suggesting minimum studies and maximum enjoyment is mantra for success. The seniors (in majority) misguide the fresher about relation in academics and extra curricular activities. But, it is also necessary for nerds to learn few tricks for development in personality (mainly presentation and communication skills).

In second year, some unfortunates enter into mechanical department. Wase bhi, Mechanical department is more cussed fore lesser grades and strict professors than any other department irrespective of engineering college. It is really hard now on to move with shrewdness in studies. Wisdom and Silence hatches more grades in department. The wit and smartness will gain unnecessary attention and doom you into on 3 year (for lucky ones) of failures and frustration.

"People related to Education often complain - at least, professors do -- that young people do not read anymore. But that is not true. They read all the time but they do not read books or long texts. For the most part, presses and journals as they now exist do not serve the interests of intellectual or cultural development. To the contrary, their proliferation is symptomatic of increasing hyper-specialization in which there is more and more about less and less."

My wish: We really need role models and guidance by lenient means for career growth in engineering days. Enter into the Mechanical engineering department and name of heroes like Ravi Kalsaria and Sripati Sah must spring in the young minds. Only those can give more inspiration and push students to dream and achieve big in their life and career.

This line is written on the old Identity card of BHU;Dedicated by me for those teachers who impose discipline rather than guiding young souls for self discipline.- "The most reliant and self governing person is always under discipline:and the more perfect the discipline,the higher will be his/her moral conditions.-M.M.M."

No hard feelings....

Talent in Indian Cinema

Before globalization, most of our Indian companies were run by families of Lala and Seths.They do not give preference to talent and people always end up doing Ji Huzoori, unless fresh talent happened to be connected. After opening of market,not many of those companies survived. Same story can be projected here. Barring few, not many will survive in bollywood in coming future. Times are changing.

Film making has became family business here. The bitter truth is that Bollywood of late has become Fortress Bollywood, shutting off its doors to non-filmi people. They are leaving out a wide section of society aspiring their career in this line.

Family rules despite lack of talent.
Bollywood is full of star parevaar like mafia families of 'The Godfather'.The Kapoors. The Deols. The Bachchans. The Roshans. The Khans. The Bollywood firmament is crowded with stars with the same surname. Apart from perpetuating fan following across generations, they make wonderfully symmetrical photo ops at the film magazines,awards and entertainment channels. Kumar Gaurav, Rajeev Goswami, Kunal Goswami, Suneil Anand, Faisal Khan, Pururaj Kumar, Sanjay Kapoor, Armaan Kohli & Uday Chopra... (the list continues) for those family members who fails in achieving goodwill of Indian public. Otherwise scenario would have been different and worse. Launch and relaunch of them through various means is well spread epidemic of our Bollywood.

Now let us talk about film makers.There is an entire breed of young directors who have been born into film families, the well-networked families and have easy access to almost the entire talent that the Indian film industry has to offer. what new talent have they given us? They take an SRK when he is a star. Not the SRK of 1991,the struggler one....

People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make in Bollywood. Kowtowing is performed and rumors of social service to acquire a role is always heard here. Any hero/heroine without Godfather or Sugar Daddy cannot stand in the rat race of fame and glory. Stereotype casting of good actors is waste of huge talent. Bollywood is full of babes. Every Miss India winner these days has a fair shot at making it in tinsel town if she keeps off the potato chips. Otherwise, there is enough demand from makers of hot & remix music videos.Ash - often denounced as 'plastic' and 'facile - indeed became a pioneer even though within a shabbily maintained bollywood standard of things.She has now become face of the nation and currently work with B grade directors of Hollywood and media (only Indian) creates the myth of her charm over firangees.

New wave in Bollywood
Today Mahesh Bhatt and RGV can be credited for bringing new talent on and off the screen. Aside: Whatever Ramgopal Varma may have degenerated today, he must be commended respect for giving break to all the newcomers. At the height of his career, the factory of RGV had consistently backed fresh talents in each aspect of film making.

Riskbearer Directors are hard breed to find these days but some directors are ready to experiment like hell. Some take their own time. New directors are projecting the globalization Hindi cinema and the liberalization of India. Never will quality cinema can take place of mainstream cinema or vice-versa.But for the growth of Indian cinema, the experimentation is necessary. Anurag Kashyap, Abbas Tyrewala, Raju Hirani, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rakeysh Mehra, Shimit Amin, Nagesh Kukkunoor, Dibaker Banerjee and Sriram Raghvan are the new talents to be watched in the future.

The Middle Path
When Vishal Bharadwaj makes a rural film (Omkara) with big stars, he beautifully mixed Deepak with Saif, Ajay, Kareena, Konkona and gang. How he took Shweta in Makdee. How, after the success of Hyderabad Blues, Nagesh chose to work with a newcomer in the lead role and wonderfully added Naseer as a support. This is the right way for our cinema.

Admiration of off-beat films with new faces and experiments are expected from this industry. The wonders of a Pankaj Kapur, Pavan Malhotra, Manoj Bajpai, Ranvir Shorey, Deepak Dobriyal or a rank, bloody-talented newcomer is still untapped for world cinema viewers. Some as-yet faceless cinephiles in some deep pockets of India can screw their heads and ask why? Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works,not just only bollywood. Hence, luck and chance are needed for new comers with talent.

And if all else fails, there is the one-liner of the decade for the sarcasm. The man who worked with stars only,Karan Johar: comes on the Filmfare Awards stage and says, "Heere ka kadar sirf johri kar sakta hain. Aur hero ka kadar sirf Johar hi kar sakta hain..."

Star vs Actor

"A viewer who has been addicted by melodramatic Bollywood dramas hardly have an understanding of good and bad cinema.The sudden change in mood for cinema something that challenges the viewership and demands certain intelligence requires time and patience to adapt and get used to such kind of films. Mythological characters laid the roots for ‘Idol-worship’ in Indian cinema that has continued to be an important aspect of identification for the Indian audience with cinema. When audiences watched their beloved mythology came alive on screen, the first seeds of ‘fascination’ and ‘love’ without a critical space became etched in our genes. Ever since, the admiration for stars on cine screen has grown by leaps and bounds. "(reference)

The love of cinema in India can be seen from two basic divisions:
1) Star "Idol" worship2) Actor admiration by Cinephiles

A star is a person who continues to be interesting even when he is not doing anything. An actor is a person who has to act (but of course!) to be interesting. Stars cannot be confused with their real life personas but these personas are important. Stars had managed the anxieties that people experience during times of such rapid change that we have lived through. his over-acting and mannerisms which so many people love to hate made him special.All that quivering and crying represented at a subliminal level the tremendous emotional upheaval that accompanies such radical changes. otherwise these films would have been empty consumerist fantasies! but the excessive and melodramatic emotions communicated the “pain” of these changing times even as the happy endings promised a better future.

Every era or region of Indian cinema has a star and actor pair.Bengali and Tamil cinema provide the best examples. The iconic pairs – of Uttam Kumar & Soumitra Chatterjee and Rajanikanth & Kamal Hasan – remain the subject of heated debates. Dilip Kumar was the actor while Dev Anand was the star. The former charmed audiences with dramatic pauses and natural tears while the latter’s puffy hair, scarves and 6:05 tilt held men and women in awe!Subsequently, when Amitabh Bachchan strode the industry like a Colossus, the actors of his generation got completely overshadowed and ended up in parallel cinema :Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah, for example. Today,same thing is repeated with Rahul Bose,Kay Kay Menon,Irfan Khan and Konkana Sen Sharma overshadowed by Khans. Sometimes there is complete mis-use of some fantastic acting talent in insignificant and underdeveloped characters. I could name a few examples, but the worst had to be “Aaja Nachle” where Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak and worst of all Irrfan Khan were completely wasted!

Bollywood Masala films are mainly running on the faces of their stars but the circus around the ‘star’ has been running around for such a long time that the relation with the art form is lost.There is no ‘Method Acting’ in star's performances on screen – just madness in the name of art and fun in the name of chaos.There is almost no relation with the content and the story flow. Hence the dialogues, set-pieces and gags which are an integral part in building the blocks of narrative rhythm do not exist due to which there is no building of characterization, emotions or development of pace.

To my feeling, star system harms the cinema when stars are taken in repetitive roles all the time. This stops their growth as actors and it hinders the growth of cinema also because much of the money available in the film industry is available to the films having big stars.It really does not matter if a director always makes a film with a particular star/actor as long as he has interesting subjects and characters to present that star/actor. All good directors have been working with few faces only in the lead roles but they give different characters to their favourite actors and don't repeat them.

If a story can be shown by a known star face then in the following weeks people rush to the cinema halls after knowing the merits of the film.This is their prerogative to select any star to present their stories. End results will always be analyzed later.Repetition in films like medium will never get respect because it removes the trace of unpredictability from the cinema. Genuine emotion and effortless acting are rare in Bollywood and must be preserved either by a star or an actor.For detail and original cause of discussion,link is here;

Riskbearer Producers

Movie making is also an industry and film making is a project or like a start-up where its the team and your product that plays a major role in determining the success. The name of the game is to play safe. Big budgets and big stars bring in the big bucks. It doesn’t matter if the film is a hit. The cycle continues. When you take the risk for experiments, independent films are produced.

The reason behind a Karan Johar a Farhan Akhtar, Rohan Sippy etc going behind big stars with whom they are comfortable with is not only about making money- but also the kind of pressure on them to succeed and comparison to their family members. If anyone have SRK or Akshay or Big B available and ready to work with them and why wouldn’t work with them.

Secondly, every new and also many an experienced director is repeatedly asked for an actor’s approval for a film by the producer before he decides to finance it. Why would any director who wanted finance and had best buddy SRK on his ’speed dail’ do in this case when hiring SRK could create boxoffice hit and a new talent a risk no one would like to take? So it’s really not a lack of commitment that makes the star-kid go for bankable stars in their kitty. They have insecurities of their own.

Team selection may not be only merit based but depends on personal rapport. It works.Why cant they mix two 40cr films with one 10 cr experiment? It is no dent to them! Make all your K films. It is these ‘money making’ films which let people make smaller experimental films. I also watch and love them. But add something new to your bouquet... The point is, choose an actor that suits the character. Not write for someone you have already decided to take. There is a lot of difference.

Only these giants are the ones who can afford taking economic risks more than the others. As long as Karan Johar or Aditya Chopra or Suraj Barjatya or any director in this club of rich and powerful directors/producers, are willing to present their chsoen stars in different roles, everything is fine.

Many people have managed balancing the act. But I talk from the Producer’s perspective. Shah Rukh has managed doing a Chak De and Swades with an OSO and RNBDJ. Aamir has done a TZP and Mangal Pandey with a Fanaa. And box office failures of 1-2 films will not affect SRK or Aamir personally. They will always keep getting films. The Producers whose risk taking threshold is higher can be the torchbearers of change. That’s all that I wish an begin happening...

Popcorn Movie Lover to Cinephile

In Hollywood, there is an unspoken dictum: “No film should have the mental age of more than ten years.” So, the birth of popcorn movies. We call ourselves Bollywood. How can we be any different? We lament the fact that there is no more a Hrishikesh Mukherjee amongst us. But really the question is where are Kundan Shah, Sudhir Mishra and Saeed Akhtar Mirza? --- This is from a article written by Kundan Shah.Its the reality of bollywood in simple lines.

Bollywood and Cricket culture is here in Indian same as Hollywood and Baseball in america. But unlike modern American history, Bollywood is not something you can squeeze in just one lifetime. It is in genes of movie watchers.But a new trend is happening here in recent past. Bollywood totally losing its touch with the Hindi heartland and instead catering to the multiplex-going city slickers. The latest India Today calls it the 'popcorn' movie trend - films specially conceived and designed for the youth which, today, is the highest spending demographic. Young people - and even older folks, families - are going to the movies because it is 'something to do'. In this country we don't have baseball games or any other weekend sporting events(Currently IPL). Well, often a movie gets just 3 stars out of 5 but junta goes to see it because it's 'good time pass'. We don't have a clubbing culture. After 5 days of BPO or IT culture, weekends are just part of great consumer culture.

IT revolution lead to the rise of Internet and mobile culture with people attached to the technology. There are lot of films downloaded over the Internet that forms an important growth of watching films, sharing films along with music in colleges in India. Students across India; consciously or unconsciously watch tons of films from all over the world. Then they feel the shock impact that a lot is happening in the world of cinema and why are we not there. I have felt the same PAIN and AGONY.

All these aspects has lead to the growth and ‘Appreciation of Cinema’ in the country, where people are getting aware about watching good films and not just sticking to watching routine Bollywood fare. These groups of people mainly belong to the urban class. The urban class of film lover notably refers to people leaving in the metros in India because they have the facilities and the accessibility to watch foreign films in theaters, film festivals, and in their own homes.

Today foreign films are released in theatres and Film titles are available in the market, and there are 24hrs satellite TV showing not just Bollywood or Hollywood but World Movies. NDTV Lumiere is releasing foreign language films in India, World movies is up and running, palador and ndtv lumiere again releasing great titles on DVD. Independent films are clicking their space inch by inch with coming years. There is light shining at the end of the tunnel.......

As Indian Cinema needs a support (who love the medium- Cinephile), and not just another SRK fan clubs. Since the importance of such fan clubs or critical look at filmmakers could only hold importance when compared on the overall merit of the 'Indian Film Industry,' since Cinema in India also exist beyond the boundaries and clutches of Bollywood.

Bollywood Award Ceremonies

Today, Bollywood is cursed by epidemic of award ceremonies. These ceremonies are used as platform for tieing superstars with production houses. But, now we have atleast 5-10 big award ceremonies and each award is given to strengthen business connection or satisfy the ego of ruling bollywood families.

Starting from the 1950's, Filmfare Awards continue to remain the Big Daddy of Indian film awards - probably because no other award has the might as big as that of Times of India behind it. Long before the Filmfare nominations became the subject of nationwide debate and controversy, it was more of an exercise in bonhomie than any serious competition between actors. Anil Kapoor was given a prize for Beta, which was announced (by Dimple Kapadia) without opening the envelope! . It is one of the most blatantly rigged prizes in the history of film awards.This angered Aamir Khan (in the running for Jo Jeet Wohi Sikandar) so much that he has boycotted the awards ever since!

We have now IFFA award each year (not staged in India) and only bollywood films are in contest with the brand name of Indian film federation awards. No regional language films other than pure commercial bollywood flick can enter the competition. And they call it Indian film awards. A real tribute to diversity of India.Hail Preetesh Nandy!!!

News/Scandel/Controversy: Akshay Kumar has rejected the best popular actor award that he received at the Nokia 15th Annual Star Screen Awards. However, Akshay came with his wife to attend the award function. But, later on when he was presented the Best Popular Actor award he refused to accept it saying that he had watched Ghajini recently and he felt that Aamir Khan, the 'Ghajini' star had done a lot better than him or any other Bollywood actor this year. He said that he believes that Aamir Khan should have won the award irrespective of the fact that he attends award functions or not. It was done by him deliberately either to show true face of awards or as he was not given best actor award for 'Singh is King'. Award for the Best Actor went to Hrithik Roshan, 'Jodha Akbar' star as he attended the award function just in nick of time. Other wise, the prize of best actor would have fall in the laps of Akshay Kumar. It would also be ridiculous for sponsors for presenting best actor award to Akshay in front of Hrithik for 'Singh is King'. To satisfy ego of AK, the sponsors presented him the award of Best popular actor. He just nominate his award to the fellow who does not give damn to the award ceremonies. The point to note here is that it was not critic award for acting but was given for popularity among audience. How can one present his popularity to other which solely depends on fans...

One more article about truth behind award ceremonies is here.

Bottomline:In the end, Bollywood Award Ceremonies are all about loving your sponsors.