Monday, December 17, 2007

Transgending a barrier...

I was just going through a blog of a friend recently, when i came across an article he had written regarding the eunuchs or hijras he comes across in the second class compartments of our trains. What he mentions ther, rang a bell in my mind. The fact is, while i do consider myself an extremely tolerant individual, i have to admit, even i have felt a sense of repulsion at the claps which accompany their arrival, whenever i am in a train. And i hav also been guilty of handing over loose change to them, just so that i can get rid of them.
While they do behave seemingly despicably in public, i was curious. What i have read up makes me feel that all they are doing is getting their back on a society which has given them nothing but ridicule and harassment. Most of these hijras are basically males who realising they are gay, just could not tolerate the idea of living with a woman, and, in the face of the unforgiving public, decided to castrate themselves and join one of the hijra households. Their main source of livelihood became begging and prostitution, not by choice, but because they are simply not recognised to get a job elsewhere. There are a few, though, who are born without their genitals. For the most though, they have to undergo a painful castration procedure, before they can achieve so called salvation. Through my pals blog, i came across this fascinating link regarding their existence. Do read it.

http://www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/2022


You do wonder, and feel, for these people. India is a country based on rigid social norms and customs. The idea of even accepting a homosexual, is something people would shudder away from. I do wonder, when are we ever going to realise? To each his own..If somebody is gay, that hardly is their fault. And while i would like to believe that this is a norm only with the older generation, some experiences i have had, even with casual buddies, tells a different story. The reaction i have got from this so called younger generation, ranged from disgust to a feeling that these people should never really be allowed to roam freely.

I just hope, the next time i meet one of them on a train journey through the country, i will be able to see through my own revulsion.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Runnin' On Empty

When i signed up to run in the Pune marathon for AIDS awareness, i never expected the circus that it turned out to be. While i do agree that it was a charity event for a cause, it does get a bit frustrating when you realise most of the junta are just not interested in the 'marathon' part of the event. Of course, the main event (42.195 Kms) was goin on nearby, wher all the actual runners took part. So, what a few of us people who were actually interested in running the stretch found was that, we had to get around whole groups of people shouting and virtually partying on the roads, to actually get somewhere. This may have included dads, moms, uncles, aunties, grandmoms and granddaddies, and maybe the pet dog. And people with varying degrees of pouch around them that you wonder if they actually were planning to really run. And of course, the event hardly had a proper flag off, with the result, some people ended up startin off around a half hour after it actually began. Of course, it is also possible that a majority of the people turned up to catch the celebrities in action at the event. Salman, Sunil Gavaskar, Aarti Chabbria(man! what a babe!), and a couple of the Chak De girls... what more could the scream brigade ask for?
On the brighter side of things, me and my buddy Ab, had started practising on the road only a week or so before the run, and happily, managed to complete the near 5kms in around 25 mins with hardly any stoppages. Of course, Ab had whetted my appetite for it by proclaiming his aim of running in the Mumbai half marathon(21 kms) in january. That though remains to be seen.. though it does seem a great thing to look forward to practising for.

Now THAT would be what i call a marathon...

Friday, November 30, 2007

Hypocrisy and the Indian...

I've always wondered about this. I'm not forsaking or attacking anyone here, just something i find a bit annoying or even funny at times. You do wonder if people are like this anywhere else. The tendancy to speak or act in total discord to what is expected or what you say...
I mean, lets look at the attitude most indians have towards sex. You say the word out or start talkin anything about it frankly, they act as if we have sinned. But like i heard somewhere...man, the country has a friggin population of 1 billion! Somebody's gotta be doin it somewhere!! Or, an american pal i made recently, who wondered at the fact that talk of sex is supposed to be taboo, but how come the only thing you see when you channel surf these days on TV is skin show. And that too...pretty suggestive stuff most of the time(and you hear of actresses saying they would not kiss on screen. Most of the stuff they do on screen suggestively would anyday qualify as obscene in my book). Although i gotta admit, things are better than they used to be, i guess...
Then of course, there are the veggies or the non veggies(whichever way you choose to look at it), who are non veggie but dont eat meat on particular days of the week, coz of certain God knows what supernatural phenomena. What i cant understand is, if you do eat meat, how in the world does it make a difference if you eat it on a sunday and not on a saturday? Do the animals love being dead on a particular day and not on others? Yes, yes, i know its all got to do with beliefs, but, whatever...
Talkin of beliefs, you have graduates or people who may have studied in major universities, who would still probably come back to look at how their stars align according to some village astrologer, or to get a blessing maybe by being kicked in the head by some saint. Wonder what is the whole point of calling yourself educated. And before anybody points out that beliefs should always remain, i have to say, there is a big difference between a belief and plain stupidity.
And then of course you have the Great Indian Marriage Trick, where people talk of great love but choose brides or grooms depending on purely practical choices. I guess there is no other thing which sullies the image of what a marriage is really supposed to mean than the amazing routine activity people seemed to have made it into here. We talk of democracy and how people have to connect irrespective of religion or caste...until of course parents find out their kid wants to get married to someone from another religion or even caste. wow-ee. When are people going to realise that for interracial harmony, things have to start from a grassroot level?

Anywayz...before i vent out any further and go absolutely crazy.. i guess i'l sign off...

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

An Inheritance of Small Things

When i put down Kiran Desai's Booker prize winning 'The Inheritance of Loss' (last years booker winner) a strange sense of deja vu hit me. My mind went back to the last booker prize winning Indian author whose book i had read, namely, the God of Small Things (which won the booker in 1997). I wonder what it is about Indian booker winners and amazingly sad narratives. While the God of Small Things was set in a picteresque Kerala backdrop and an orthodox Christian family, Inheritance is set in Eastern India in a small village called Kalimpong. The main characters here are an old, embittered judge, who just seems to want to hide away from the world at his home at the bottom of the hill. The judge is revisited frequently by visions of his past, as a student in England, where, as a result of his low self esteem, he withdraws deeper and deeper into a shell, and virtually turns into a monster on return to India and his young wife. At his doorstep one day, arrives his grand daughter, Sai. Fate thrust her into his home, when her parents die in Russia, and she has to leave the boarding school she was staying at. Also in the narrative is the cook who has been with the judge for a long while. The narrative keeps switching between Kalimpong and the USA, where Biju, the cooks son, is struggling as an illegal immigrant to finally get himself a green card.

As i mentioned before, the book reminded me in certain ways of Arundhati Roy's modern classic. The unbearably sad family living out their almost invisible existence with little to look forward to. Inheritance also provides a backdrop to show a Gorkha uprising in the hills, which lead to a lot of bloodshed and violence. And Sai is personally and deeply affected by this. The man she had come to love, Gyan, her tutor, ends up joining the uprising and forsakes her. The climax may seem a bit abrupt for some, but for me, complemented the unbearable sadness pervading the whole book and its tone.

Not one of my favorites, but definitely worth a read...

Monday, October 29, 2007

Almighty Courage

The other day, i manage to catch a screening of 'A Mighty heart' starring Angelina Jolie. I did not know what to expect from the movie, considering that it was based on a real life incident. However, the movie was made like a taut, slick thriller, and with excellent direction. Indeed, there were times when you felt you were not so much as watchin, but were actually participating as a silent observer in the various attempts to try and get to Daniel Pearl. After the movie, as is customary for me these days, i visited IMDB to give my own rating and take a look at the message boards. A particular thread i saw there, brings me to the point of this post.

There was a post which was started with the mailer stating that he/she did not feel that Mr. Pearl was a hero, and that he actually should be blamed for putting himself and his family at such a risk, depsite knowing how dangerous it was for a person of Jewish descent as him, in these places. The responses for this varied, from those who were shocked with the writer, to those who were downright cynical...some even going so far as to say that Marianne Pearl is using her husbands death for her own ends.

As for me, i feel the above statement is one of the most insensitive things i have heard. We have to understand here that, nobody is really trying to make Pearl into a hero here. And nobody is really trying to discount the millions of other lives that may be getting lost to terrorists around the globe, by just focussing on one American murder. If one were to go by the argument that we cannot feel sorry just for one person, just because his story has been shown, while the others have not, i would like to say that, it is through these isolated stories of brutality that people can truly become aware. In my opinion Daniel Pearl was a hero, if simply for the fact that he believed in doing his job to the best of what he could, despite the fact that he probably knew that there was always a danger. I have heard somewhere, courage is not the absense of fear, its the knowledge that there is something more important than your fear. And Marianne Pearl is a bigger hero. She chose to make her husbands story heard, and in a very impartial manner. While i have not read the book, if the movie is anything to go by, we would realise that she herself says (in this case, Angeline Jolie) that thousands do get killed by terrorists, including a lot of people from the local population. And the movie itself portrays characters like the Inspector(Irrfan Khan, in a wonderfully realistic portrayal), good men, who just want to do their job right and just. If nothing else, this is one thing i greatly admired about the movie. The absence of stereotyping of any particular community. I have heard that the lady now travels to war torn places and tries to get other peoples stories heard. Definitely a hero, if i have ever heard of one.

Getting back to some of the lighter aspects of the movie, a lot of the filming took place in Pune itself(Aundh, to be precise), because the producers felt that certain areas of this city could pass off as Karachi. I have to admit, i had an element of curiosity because of this.

So, finally...is it worth it? Does it get across what it wants to say? I would say...a big resounding YES...or better yet, get the book. I sure am planning to.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Bhagat Singh opines...

The past weekend, i met up with a friend who used to work in my office, and who has now gone on to better things(good for him! :-) ). While it was wonderful to catch up after a long time, one of the things i love to do is talk about or listen to a passionate outpouring of one's ideals, especially if it is of interest to me. And that afternoon, sitting in the pleasant Pune weather, that is what we did. It started of as a discussion on religious beliefs and atheism, and ended up into one covering almost all aspects of Indian civilisation and beliefs. To be more precise, i did most of the listening, with genuine interest. I am pretty passionate about ideals and people i believe in, and it was refreshing to talk to someone of like mindedness, who just wanted to genuinely get his views across.

This took my mind back to earlier in the year, when the same person had sent me a link to an article by Bhagat Singh, citing his views on Atheism and why he follows it. A truly mind numbing one, in which the intelligence of the man shines through. While i am not exactly an atheist(yet!), i do have a general feeling of disillusionment and almost scorn to all practises in the name of religion and tradition. The last time i actually put together my hands and prayed to the almighty is a hazy memory by now.

Anywayz... i wanted to share the link to this fascinating article here, in the hope that people will try to read it with an open mind. Thanks, Shivs.. :-)


http://liveindianhistory.googlepages.com/bhagatsinghopines

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

T20...Cricket in the 21st Century...

Well...it looks like Twenty 20 is here to stay. I have to admit, i was not too excited about this latest version of the game when the idea was first floated. While i definitely am a fan of the idea of making cricket reach out to a wider audience, this at first seemed to me, to be a major compromise. I thought it would turn out to be just a slam bang fest wihtout a care given to the finer nuances of the game.I'm happy to see that i was mistaken.
I watched the final of the recently concluded T20 world cup in the frenzy atmosphere of my office campus. After a topsy turvy, and absolutely incredible game, which to me epitomised the whole spirit of this latest version of the game, India had finally prevailed over their rivals. And the place erupted. I hardly think the reactions could have been more delirious if it was the 50 over cup. After all the worries of whether India will be able to adapt to the new power game that is taking over cricket, it was refreshing to see them perform so well. Indeed if there is one thing this team showed, it is that strokeplay can be as effective in this version of the game as it is in the traditional format. And of course, it was wonderful to finally see a country other than Australia to win something!
What this tournament has shown is that T20 is a format which is not necessarily just a batsmen's game. If a bowler has the right stuff, he can make an impact. Who can forget what Vettori did against the Indians or what RP Singh did to the hosts, South Africa. And in the 20 overs, we have seen some wildly fluctuating games, with the advantage see sawing back and forth between the two teams. Add to it the fact that this was a very successful world cup from the organisational point of view. This is in stark contrast to the 50 over world cup earlier in the year in the West Indies, which was roundly critisized as an insipid affair, with amazingly bad organisation.
Come to think of it, you do wonder about the future of the 50 over game. While test cricket will always be popular among the purists and true lovers of the game, it does seem that T20 may just take away the sheen from 50 over cricket, which was anyways, in something of the doldrums. We may have to wait and watch on that front.
As for India, considering the fact that they were almost newcomers to T20 cricket, this win was both unexpected and invigorating. The young team led by Dhoni, showed remarkable presence of mind and character to hold on just when it mattered. Including the final against Pakistan, when they seemed to have let it slip out of their hands in the last over. One cannot help but remember the team which did so well in the 2002 Champions trophy in Sri Lanka and the 2003 world cup in South Africa. Hopefully, this team will go onto better things.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Voices Within...

I seem to have a major problem here. My mind is endlessly at war. With my mind. I just can't seem to shut out the voices in my head which keep talkin among themselves every frickin time. I mean, hey, gimme a break! Im tryin to lead a normal happy go frickin lucky life here. But no.. I have to be reminded of my past failures, disappointments, heartbreaks, doubts, fears of whats to come, indecision... And it just does not stop.

So, is it normal? I dunno, but it sure doesnt seem so. And in these times of doubts and wavering goals, it seems to have reached a crescendo.

I gotta get a shrink....

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

A Thousand Splendid Suns

The moment i saw Khalid Hosseini's second book on the stands, i knew i wanted to read it. Thanks to a good friend of mine, i managed to land up a copy of it on my birthday. Expectations were high because of his wonderful first book, The Kite Runner.
My emotions while i was reading this book, and on completing it was surreal, to say the least. One thing that has to be very clear is that it is a very depressing book at times. But, then, you feel its a depression you have to try and understand. That these kinds of lives are being played out in a million homes around the world. That to close your senses to this book, is a crime, in a way.
So, does it surpass his previous work? In a nutshell, i would say, yes, it does. While the Kite Runner was also a story which had its roots in Afghanistan, it was at times, an adventure story. This book, though, is a stark and unflinching look at the lives of two women in war torn Afghanistan. The book opens with 15 year old Mariam living in a kolba outside city limits. She is the harami daughter of a rich person in the city. Circumstances force her to marry Rasheed, a widower, and move to Kabul. Rasheed, a staunch believer in age old customs, starts getting increasingly violent towards her. In the same neighbourhood lives Laila, whose parents have a more modernistic outlook towards life. Tragic circumstances force Laila to join Mariam's household. While the hardships continue, the women form an unbreakable bond, which allows them to get through all the hardships they have to face.
The story does get too melodramatic at times, but you realise there is a message here. That behind every burqa, there lies a million stories. Stories of pain, suffering, dreams... The melodrama does seem justified here. The book also paints a vivid picture of Afghanistan, and how that country has been at an endless war for the last few decades.
Redemption is alsways a recurring theme in Hosseini's books. Even here, past the suffering, the pain and the ravages of war, finally, there is hope again. This is a book i highly recommend to anyone. If not for anything else, atleast for an amazing character study of two unbelievably brave women.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

I...

Well actually... I dont know what i am writing about. This blog is my attempt to break my duck for the last 6 months on this page. Right now i am absolutely inspired to write something. Problem is, i dunno wat. So maybe i can write about my lunch today. Which was nothing special. I had my perrenial favorite in the Infy food courts, the egg noodles served by the Tamanna canteen. I had lunch with Vandana as usual. Probably irritated her too, as usual. Which is okay i gez, since yesterday she had sent off a mail to my colleagues sayin that i got engaged! (I am still getting compliments).
I could write about the fact that i had a slight fever yesterday, which actually scared me no end, since i have to go on a much awaited pleasure trip tonorrow to Delhi and Goa with my hommie from college, Arun and his American boss. But then again, it doesnt seem too interesting right now.
And now, when i so seriously want to discuss the problems besetting this world of ours, my gal pal from college, Sangeetha, has interrupted me! Talk about problems!
Hmm.. Well, the last movie i saw was the Insider on my laptop. Now that was a good flick. An amazing drama. Excellent performances, not just from Russell Crowe and Al Pacino, but from an excellent supporting cast. Micheal Mann is a director whose movies impress me no end. Even his supposedly 'worst movie', Miami Vice. I absolutely loved it. And of course, if tobacco companies actually do what is mentioned in the movie, it is a MAJOR problem. Although i feel a bit hypocritical now, since i am a smoker myself, but there you are.
Well, i did get inspired to write after coming across my philosopher pal's blog (privatesofthecarribean.blogspot.com). The idyllic environs of Sleepy little Thrissur seems to have brought out the writer in him. Although there was a part i did not totally agree with. In one post of his, he has mentioned that one of the things he likes the most about Kerala is the people. Somehow, for me, the thing i like the most of the place is the amazingly pristine beauty the land offers. Sometimes you feel that God has taken residence for good in this part of the world, and forsaken the rest of the world. The PEOPLE, on the other hand, have always, i have felt, taken this for granted. Its not that the land is so beautiful because of them, rather, in spite of them. Of course, i am not totally against them, but then, that old adage i heard somewhere, comes to mind.. Gods Own Country with the Devils own People...

And therein lies a long story...

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Diamonds are forever...or so they say..

Last night, me and a buddy went to catch the late nite show of Blood Diamond. Though i had already seen it once, it was a testament to how much i liked the flick, that i decided to watch the late nite show, despite it being a dreary weekday, and an episode with the ever endearing auto drivers of Pune on the cards..

The movie has already entered my pantheon of great movies i have watched. i guess i should have paid more heed to the directing credits. One of Edward Zwicks previous flicks, 'Courage Under Fire' , starring my personal fave, Denzel Washington, also happens to be one of my fave movies. But this one was definitely more powerful. The beauty of the Sierra Leone landscape has been interspersed seamlessly with the gore that has become commonplace in that country, and probably in that continent. Like they say..TIA..'This is Africa'.. The opening sequence of the RUF rebels coming and laying waste the village to which Soloman Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) belongs, sets the tone for the rest of the movie, which manages to spread the message of the illegal diamond trading that cost locals their lives, while at the same time, keeping you at the edge of your seats as a slick action thriller.

Leonardo DiCaprio..for the first time (yes, not even in the Departed), looks like a tough guy. though i never had any doubts about his acting chops, his baby face made me skeptical about him in these kind of roles. But, boy did he carry it off well. I still feel like sayin to everyone. 'Ma man'..in the Rhodesian accent he portrays in the movie. This movie should finally, atleast for me, lay to rest his Titanic image. Before i saw the movie, i was wondering if they gave him the Oscar nomination for the wrong movie(i was expecting him to get it for the Departed)..but this is definitely a more worthy performance.

The other stars in the cast also give stellar performances. Djimon Hounsou is perfectly believable as the tough yet simple village fisherman, who just wants his family back. Jennifer Connelly, apart from looking ravishing, seems to be perfectly cast..

The movie has a number of poignant sequences..when Leonardo's Danny Archer finally breaks down and says 'Sometimes i wonder if God would ever forgive us for what we've done.. But then i realise, God left this place a long time ago..'
Or the scene when Archer is leaving and Connelly gives him, just a glance..but a glance which conveyed a lifetime of longing..Archer's response? 'some other life, maybe'..

Even the bad guy had some great lines..'You may think I'm a devil..but only because i have lived in hell'..

This is one for my all time faves..Whenz the DVD comin?

Friday, February 16, 2007

Nostalgia..

Ah...Nostalgia.. A wonderful feelin at times. Today, as another one of my close pals in my project area leaves for pastures new and greener, i am left wondering.. What of it all? Life... We come in touch with so many people. A few leave their indelible imprints within us. A few leave scars. But at the end of the day, they all contribute to a maelstrom of emotions that run within our minds. How many of our lasting memories involve people we may not even be in touch with anymore? If you can say none or very few, well, u'v done a better job of keepin up with your pals than me, i guess. Although, it is not for want of effort. Recently i have managed to trace out some friends of mine, with whom i lost touch around 12 years ago. Now that is a lot of time... Of course, not that we've once again become the best of buddies, but i had to satisfy that thirst in me, to find out just where these people who meant a lot to me at one point, ended up..

But, then again..is that one of the bittersweet aspects of being nostalgic? Does the fact that we dont even really know what the people we are thinkin og are upto, add to the romance of nostalgia? Sometimes, i do think so. I believe, its the romantics who can actually get nostalgic..more than the others.. (And no, i am not some hopeless romantic, about to whine away my frustrations here)..

At the end of the day, everytime a person who has left a mark on me leaves, i feel a pang somewhere.. It hurts a bit. Sometimes i wonder.. what if... i dont see this person again? For me, its a mind boggling thought.. the prospect of not seeing a person you knew till yesterday, ever again.. It happened when i left college. When i was sayin goodbye to certain people..i just knew.. i wont be seein them again..

Then again..every experience is to be cherished. Like one of my best pals, and a person i like a lot, says.. 'No experience is not worth having. Cherish evertything that went by you and everything that is to come'... That according to me, sums up life very well...

After all, you aint gonna be around forever. So u might as well make the most of what you have...