Patriotism the Bollywood way...

Patriotism and Hindi motion pictures have always gone hand in hand. We all heard of the days when the national anthem was played at the end of every movie. Every year there is at least one movie that keeps the patriotic spirit in us alive. From the black n white chronicles of the freedom struggle to the hep ultra modern youth transforming into freedom struggle revolutionaries… the movies have always kept up with the changing times and have pricked the patriotic conscience in us – if only for the 3 hrs that we are utterly alone in a dark hall full of people, who are experiencing the same. I wonder why the spirit dies down once the curtains are drawn and the lights are switched on, and we find ourselves once again a part of a crowd.

The legend of Bhagat Singh (one of the half a dozen similar chronicles to hit the silver screen at once) made Bhagat the unsung hero of the freedom struggle. Bhagat dreams of an India where “har dharam, har mazhab, har zyaat ke log ek hi aasmaan ke neechein suraksha ki neend so sakein. Aur wahi hoga sahi maine mein azaad Bharat. Sunehara Bharat… Hamara Bharat.” Rang De Basanti - a better box office hit, also a favourite among all the youth of today is more about caring for the country. It reinvented the spirit of the freedom struggle and made us feel that there was a Bhagat Singh hidden inside each of us. Lage raho Munna Bhai – another re-invention… this time the father of our nation went live on the FM. Taking up his principles and blending them with the mood of the our times - “Gandhigiri” became the new age mantra for non-violence. Chak de India – also patriotic in its own way… captured the spirit of patriotism that sports are always associated with them; reviving India’s interest in its national game. Lagaan – cricket and patriotism… the perfect mix! In Swades Mohan Bhargava gives up a dream job in the dream land, to work for the betterment of the home land… Swades deals with the new age patriotism. It gives a kind of solution to what can be done now. Halla Bol – another patriotic movie, which talks about integrity and standing up for what’s right; about taking responsibility to change the system that has gone wrong. Yuva another movie of the same kind, but the solution is different – urging the intelligentia to become a part of the political system.

Cinema is a very powerful medium in our country. It evokes passion in our country like nothing else (except cricket) does. But my question is why do we wait for a movie to come and tell us what is right and what ought to be done? And why is the effect so short lived? Every national holiday we sit and spend a short while wondering about patriotism – again thanks to the media which keeps flashing it up at our conscience. Shouldn’t patriotism be something more deep routed and permanent? Something that we should be proud of wearing up our sleeve? and not something that opens our eyes in dark theatres…There are a million ways to show our love for the nation. The simplest thing is to feel that it is yours. It is your very own wonderful beautiful nation… MY India, YOUR India, OUR India. It is your home. Take care of it as you would your own dwelling. Keep it clean, keep things in order, follow the law – they are just a small courtesy towards your neighbours sharing the same dwelling; help one another; raise your voice against injustice; take responsibility for changing what’s wrong. Take responsibility – ‘coz if you won’t do it who will? It is up to each and every one of us to keep our India shining. If it doesn’t – the fault lies within each one of us…

Take responsibility. “koi desh perfect nahi hota. Use perfect banana padta hai” n “… zimmedaari uthao use badal ne ki”. You can make a difference – for a better tomorrow – for you and for every one else on this beautiful piece of earth we call home – India.

Anosmia...

The 5 senses... Sight, Sound, Touch, Smell and Taste... I never realised how much a part of life they really are untill I lost one of them... ANOSMIA... One the funniest problem to be suffering from. A depressing but none the less funny one...

I can't smell... "not at all??? not even a leetle bit??? are you serious???" - ya, ya, ya... I am serious!!! I dont recall ever reading a story or watching a movie in which some one looses their sense of smell, not even in a comic!!! Now that I think of it... Are there people who cant taste??? Have to check that up. ANOSMIA - now thats a word that doesnt come up on the GRE wordlists...

I was reading a book today in which the author was describing a place and was talking about the smell of rotting pages of old books. Then I began to wonder how incomplete the description of any place is without describing the fragnances or odours. It was only recently that it hit me that I travelled across europe without any idea of what it smells like! I have been living for the last 8 months with anosmic memories. All my memories of the last 8 months (for sure... I donno when I really lost the sensation of smell actuallyyy) dont have any smell associated with them.

To be sure it is a very convenient problem to have sometimes... I can live aparently any where on earth - as someone pointed it out to me yesterday. I walk across anywhere without holding my breath or crinking up my nose. But... when you are actually making biryani and someone else comes in from another room to tell you that the aroma is great!!! Its not that great feeling - trust me! 

I remember many of the smells... people ask me how??? (rather laugh at that tooo :P) but I do remember some of my most favourite smells... and not so favourite ones too! I figured that I probably could eat papaya now that I cant smell it, but then I realised that I can still recollect the smell... :) so memory is still intact!!! 

My doc says he cant figure out why I lost the sensation of smell... I should get it back some day just like that. Another doc says I should keep checking for smell (huh???!!!). Most of my friends go into peals of laughter when ever they remember it... and if I am in a mood to laugh too, I join in - in thinkin up all the things that i can do now without any problem. But then again... I know I am missing out on something very important in life... I wish i could get it back... But I have quite given up on it!!!

je pense... along the godavari

There is something about getting lost in the folds of the inner realms of Mother Nature. Its something that can never be fully appreciated unless felt, touched, seen, smelt in person. The reality is sometimes coarser than in pictures and paintings but is a beauty by itself... "The strength of the hills" really means a lot. Hills - synonymous with long lasting constancy in the world where everything fades with time. Hills - covered with unexplored, naked, natural beauty... The intrusion of man into these areas seems unfair. But then again how fair is it to deprive man of the real original beauty of the world??? Perhaps the old way of exploring.... a small group of people on a wild, adventurous expedition... is the best!!!

Only those who really value what they are about to explore will brave it all. In today's world of commercialization where relaxation is offered on a platter full of holiday postcards, one comes to see something they hardly know how to appreciate. The "oooohhhh.... aaahhhh" at the right places, often missing the finest detail of all, or come to see the most hot spot of the season to be in the flow of things. Looking out for something long after it passed by unnoticed. 

We hardly treat nature with the respect it deserves. With sheer impunity we walk away with all our reckless actions. But wait... everything is being noticed... every paper plate dumped on the river, every plastic cover caught on a branch after a flood, every vibration of the stones due to the blaring music on the launches... everything!!! It will all come back a thousand nay million fold!!! Then we sit and lament about the cruelty of nature and curse all the Gods there are, then again immediately rush back to appease them.

Nothing about nature is ever sharp or angular. Everything is rounded & curved. So it is with all the constructions of old. Any attempts to reconstruct or repair lack that smooth, soft, rounded feel. Its wonderful how the utter lack of symmetry creates the ultimate wonders of nature. There is no organisation... everything is random... but oh so beautifully random. There in lies its charm... the uniqueness in everything. Nothing man made can ever achieve that distinction. Even with all our sophisticated planning we can never reach that level of imperfection!!!

Man is lost in the struggle for survival everywhere and in all ages. But it is different out here... With no technology, no development, and no traces of modern living - one looks at awe at the life here. Why is the presence of technology so important? Since when did it become a prerequisite for proper living? It has become sub-conscious thinking to regard lack of technology as 'primitive'. The outward so called norms of society if violated are only met with pity, disdain and contempt. Whom do we have to satisfy and why??? Who fixed these rules, who decides the ultimate good and bad for the world???

What about natural instincts, inner feelings, quiet joys & happiness??? What about satisfying the soul and having a nice quiet smile??? Where have all the relationships gone that are filled with love, trust & understanding??? Why should every relationship be worked on??? It is not like the days of yore didn’t have their own set of problems... We have tried to work on those problems but have lost somethings that they had. Some things that shouldn’t have been forgotten have been left behind. Can’t we hold onto the past on our march into the future???

But that again must be what evolution is all about... the wheel of time has to keep moving. It doesn’t stop for anyone. But, some times I think that we are only getting poorer with the passage of time survival of the fittest is the name of the game, but who ever said that the fittest was the best???

 

 

deutschland...

I was at the hauptbahnhof earlier this evening watching the second half of the euro cup match between Germany and Portugal at the burger king outlet. The Germans go crazy for football... I had seen them all get decked up for the match earlier. Anything that has German colours - garlands, strange hats, wrist bands... painting their flag colours all over their faces and hands. Ah... then I saw them after the match today... they poured into hauptbahnhof... literally poured in from all the places around where they were watching the match on large screens. they were blowing horns, singing, dancing, jumping, shouting, throwing beer bottles, hugging... everything... looking at them made me also happy... though I don’t know A,B,Cs of fussball and don’t care who won or lost. They got onto trains and jumped up and down shaking the wagons. They stood on platforms singing and shouting... aahh....

then you wonder... weren’t you travelling in an absolutely silent train this morning? Where did all that reserve, calm and quiet go??? hahahah.... Germans!!! They seem anti-social. No one cares about the one around, as in they don’t bother the ones around. Well, they also aren’t talk able in class... but there is one thing or the other that does stand out from within all that silence and primness. A piercing here, a wacky hair do there... its as if that is in defiance to all that reserve. Ah but they are so silent... completely so!

But when they do party... they DO party. They know how to chill out. Its like keeping all that energy inside and bursting out once in a while... and freakishly... after tonight... oh yeah Germans are just as crazy as anyone else... if not more!!! :)

Anne Frank

Anne Frank... When I first read the book way back when I was younger I didnt like it. For a few years when anyone mentioned it I would wonder why it was that famous. When I read it again out of some impulse... I loved it. I understood it better. I could feel the spirit that was reaching out through those pages. Growing up at such a time is so unimaginable for me. It was initially. Even yet the whole reality hit me only when I visited the Anne Frank Huis at amsterdam last week. Those narrow stairways, the small rooms. 8 people living together - stumbling over each other every moment, living under constant fear. What a life!!! What spirit!!!

No one deserves to live that way... It isnt right that we call ourselves civilized when we let such things happen. Its not as if it is different now. Same if not worse atrocities occur all over the world even today. We cant do anything about it. Through out human history we HUMANS have been torturing someone or the other. Then there is a revolution there things become better... Or so we think till something else goes wrong. Did anyone ever imagine there are so many ways in breaking the heart, the soul, the sprirt, the person???

Anne Frank was arrested in August 1944. She died at Auschwitz in March 1945. Auschwitz was liberated in April 1945. When Anna died she believed that her entire family was dead. Her sister had died a few days earlier. Had she known that her father was alive she would have held on... perhaps. What a way to kill the person... killing the reason to live. After all that struggle to live... she just lost the reason to do so any more. Oh world... How can you do this???

Anne is just one among millions... Millions who drown in an ocean of misplaced hatereds and angers. One of the mannnnnnyyyy souls that have a right to live same as the rest of us... The mannnyyy souls with their own special dreams in life... Life! How important it is... How easy to take one...

I am very disturbed by it all... Always was about this topic. We failed you Anne. The world hasn't learned. The world never will... We will not forget perhaps... But we wont do anything about it either. Your smile, Anna, will haunt me for ever!!! It will keep taunting me... We couldnt do anything... and cant do anything. Lovely young girls like you will be sacrificed at the alter of madddd passions and beliefs. I am sorry...

life... live... alive...

There is something about being alone if there is loveliness around you. The weather, the music, the trees, the wind, the food - everything add to the joy and romance of being alone. They add to every mood and every memory. Life is a beautifully mysterious thing. One never knows where one finds a friend, where one finds a smile, where one finds a memory that leaves not till one passes on. Life brings to us just what we need - at the time that we need it and at the time that we are ready for it. There never need any worry about where life is heading to. We just need to live and everything else will be taken care of for us.

Live every moment, live every chance… live every song, live every breath… live every smile and every tear drop… because it is yours. It is all yours… and it will never come back to you once it goes. Live because it is just one life you've got. Live because your life is the only thing that will ever really truly be yours - all yours. No one can take your life - not until you give it to them. Every step taken, every thought that lights up the mind, every word that leaves the lips, every smile that brightens up the moment, every laugh that rides the wind… every turn ever taken every decision ever made is all yours. Just yours. What you make of your life… how you live it is up to you*. No one can have made a choice for you - not truly - coz you chose to listen to them in the first place.

Live - because the world is a better place that you live. The world around you is just waiting to give you the best life possible. Every tree, every flower petal, every drop of water, every little wind-let and every ray of the sun is just waiting to make the best for you to live. Open up your arms and let that world in. Go for long walks and fall in love with yourself... Give up all worries. What you have, you have. What you don't, you don't. You want something - go get it. You've lost something??? Fine! You just didn't try hard enough - you still want it try again... harder. Or maybe it just wasn't ment for you, get up and move on with your life. There are equal amounts of joy and despair in this world. Keep your head screwed on right for both... Keep your heart light enough to come out from both stronger and better... its just one life... live it to the fullest!!! And heres to the best lives that can ever be lived... :)

* a debate with a friend (karan syal) made me realise that... most of what is in the blog is also from reflections after a talk with karan on a train journey. sharing thoughts... even a one sided pouring out shoots out new thought tendrils...

Dear Lady Luck,

I wonder what luck has go to do with anything in the world. Sometimes... when I envy someone I think they are lucky (ok I do give credit to them but sometimesss... only!!!). Then there are times when some people never get anything no matter how hard they try, and I wonder why they have to be so unlucky (are they doing things the wrong way? They can't be - not all the time!!!). Then again is my luck... never been lucky. I think so at least (does everyone do so about their own selves?) So what is this luck all about? Whom does it favor??? Any rule book???

Well... as things go... it is just better to think we get what we deserve, and keep working our asses of for something more that we do want (though why do others around us get it easier??? or may be they work behind their screens...I feel happier knowing they are plain lucky!!! than work harder ;)) There really is nothing free in the world is there??? Everything has to be bought - by time, sweat, brains, work, passion, and sacrifice... Every bit of fame and success has to be paid for in form or the other. Well this isn't wholly from experience...partly from observation.

Then again... how does it matter??? whatever the outcome is... did you enjoy the ride??? If you did it shouldn't bother you. This is one thing I learnt of late. You may have a million plans and dreams and the million and one-th one will come true (obviously nothing else will!!! rule of nature). The best thing is... to forget about the million plans then. And just look back only to think of the fun you had in planing them. The million and one-th one was the best thing for the moment!!! Nothing could have been better (okay I still have trouble thinking this though). capture the moment in your memory book to laugh at later (or just smile to yourself) and move on. Lady luck may not be on your side... Who cares!!! Have fun!!! Just keep up the smile :)

(inspired by the life of a dear friend whose address lady luck has forgotten...)