Building Uttam Pradesh !

The importance of Uttar Pradesh in India's socio-political firmament is never overstated. The long perception of UP as badlands as well as cow belt region hasn't done any justice towards building its image. Even the movies located in the geography of UP shows a culture of revenge rather than the rule of law.

Uttar Pradesh is laggard in implementation to social scheme like MNRGES, NRLM, PDS and food security. Even the states like Tamilnadu had introduced mid day meal scheme in 1985 while the Government of Uttar Pradesh started the mid-day-meal scheme in 16 districts, including Allahabad district, from September 2003. Mulayam Singh and Mayawati are out of the depth with the good governance, and in the UP the depth reality of law situation does really go murky and deep. Also, there is definite culture of servitude in the bureaucracy, education, politics. The impact of casteism, class hierarchy, poverty and sexual exploitation on women is present in our society. Looking through negative talks defy the spirit within.

'Bad things happen when good people do nothing.' That made me think on the perception of the state. Yes, its so damn right. And, I am active on social network and in a position to gather a public voice on Uttar Pradesh. Hence, I had started Facebook Page : Uttar Pradesh (aka BuildingUttamPrades on Twitter) with my friend Rishab Deo. There is a huge social, religious and financial turmoil going in the state with the new era of citizen empowerment and old feudal mentality. In a democratic society, we put a high value on the right of citizens to have access to a wide range of opinions and beliefs. Only socially well-connected citizens with diverse opinions can even start the debate or affect the discourse of the ongoing conditions. Let us netizens go ahead and make ourselves better informed !

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My First Theater Show

Before speaking about my impressions of a theater performance Id like to say a few words about art in general. Noble Laureate Faulkner said that the only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself, and I agree with that. Art gives a meaning to the life and help in carving a identity of a person amid monolithic routine daily life. Sometimes search for an identity takes a man back to controversial and uncomfortable part of life. The turmoil touches the person on a level far deeper than where modern lifestyle like Facebook, iPhones and tweets can possibly reach. And the person is not the same forever !

It was during November of year 2014, I attended my first show of professional theater. My friend Vaibhav Pandey suggested that we should visit a theatrical performance during my visit to Delhi.. We landed upon NSD campus and got tickets of Uff Teri Ada. This play is adapted Lysistrata created Aristophanes. It is a comedy based on sexual tension, nationalism, pacifism and feminism. The performance, lighting, songs, script and direction was a moderate success indeed and it left an not much impression on me.

The medium of theater left far more deeper impact than play on a cinephile like me. To share common experience and memory is the spirituality that cinema offer to human society. The theater seems to have more canvas, scope and imagination in comparison to the technical beast named cinema. I watched lots of movies. But each time I left a cinema-hall, the high that movies gave me evaporated. Hence, theater can be a perfect gateway for me if I learn more to appreciate subtle and imaginative nature of the art. I see theater as an informal education.  It is the quality of experience not the quality of techniques in cinema and theater that matter to me eventually.

I am hoping for more encounters to theater drama which are intelligent, subtle and honest than their counter parts. I want to listen the stories of endeavor that will be called pearls of wisdom. Certain things of art catch our eye, but I pursue only those that capture the heart. Everybody loves usual technical mastery, but only emotions capture more heart.