Top story, a child actor from the movie slumdog got slapped by his father. This was the tops story in one of the news channels. This happened when one thought the media couldn’t get any lower. Come on, give me a break, I have been beaten up far worse by my father many a tome and no one gives a damn about that. Children in India get abused a lot and no one reports it and when something happens to a child actor its breaking news. On this incident the whole family was interviewed. The child was like dad loves me so hit me. Mother was saying there is plenty of love in the family. Dad was like it was just because he got angry at that point in time. Come on!! I don’t think I need to say anything more on this issue to highlight the utter absurdity of the whole thing. 

A news report that caught my eye was the feud between ICL and BCCI. I knew that BCCI didn’t like ICL but only came to know about the ridiculousness of the whole issue recently. Sachin and Karthick were pulled out of a charity match because in that match there was a player who had once played in the ICL( who is currently not playing). Can the BCCI get any more childish? It’s like saying the players under BCCI won’t have fun if the people who are even remotely associated with ICL are part of the fun. Can it get any more stupid? Laxman was not allowed to play for a county because that particular county had players from the ICL. If you look at it in a rational manner whose lose is it? The BCCI won’t have this authority for long. They appear as an insecure dictator who will soon loose its power. Not allowing people to play in a charity match is condemnable. I can understand not allowing players from the ICL playing in BCCI events, I don’t see what the problem is if players under the BCCI play along with ICL players (not under ICL). This is modern racism and shouldn’t be allowed.  

What the F***?

For the past few days in various news channels every 2 hours debates, discussions, stories about whether Valentines Day should be celebrated or if it’s against Indian culture. Various groups getting hold of various arms to suppress people celebrating Valentines Day. Women getting hold of kitchen utensils, men deciding to proclaim people as husband and wife, people enacting what will happen if Valentines Day is celebrated. On the other hand you have the pro Valentines Day group. They also have come up with various innovative ways to tackle this issue. For a developing country with too many problems to count, aren’t we spending too much of our time and other resources on such a ridiculous problem? To celebrate Valentines Day or not? Is that even a real problem 

The turn of events is absolutely disgusting and appalling. Why on earth is any “sena” spending this much effort to tackle the “problem” of Valentines Day? Various sections of society across religions and castes are marginalized in India, why can’t these religious fanatics champion their cause? Farmers take their life because they don’t have money to buy the food that they produce and all we get to see is a documentary once in a blue moon. Ridiculously high numbers of children are not getting elementary education and no one give a damn. Women get raped, college girls are forced into prostitution because they can’t pay their fees, parents sell off their children so that they and their children can have a meal and do we ever get to see the real depth of the issue? Ridiculously high number of children and elderly sleep without a roof over their head, and scores of them die every year because of extreme cold or heat strokes. Do we give a rat’s ass about them? Family’s die of thirst and hunger because neither water nor food is available to them even though tons of food gets spoiled in various go downs, but why should we care? If we start to write down the problems we as a nation is facing, that list will never get over. 

Celebrating Valentines Day or going to a pub, is that really an issue. We have the Women and Child development minister and the health minister going hammer and tongs on this issue. Agreed, beating up of the women was the job of a few sexual sadists and they should be trashed but why should a minister directly get involved in such incidents? Even though I know the answer is “Politics”, still, it’s appalling. In a country (in general) where women are tortured for not providing dowry, where women cant get out without the fear of getting molested or raped, is it right on the part of the minister to give her complete attention on ensuring that Valentines Day goes on or the working of pubs are not disturbed. I am not saying what she did was wrong, but I am hurt with the kind of emphasis that this issue got. If such hype was there around various other issues we would have been a developed country 10 yeas ago. 

It’s not just about the people who support Valentines Day. Don’t the so called “protectors of Indian culture” have anything better to do?  Is Valentines Day or Pubs the major cultural problem that we are facing? I agree, it’s important to protect Indian culture and heritage, but having agitations for such petty things is nothing less than school boyish. Throw stones at the government for the status of the holy ganga or the appalling condition of the various temples in our country. Of all the things Valentines Day? I don’t   care if its politics or anything else, its simply ridiculous.

To ensure that such things don’t happen, I guess we should be the change that we want to see. This much hype for such an issue is not justified, at least in my humble opinion. It’s high time that we as a nation set our priorities right. Issues like poverty, hunger, exploitation, death might not be as fancy as celebrating Valentines Day or going to pubs but its high time that the former issues get hyped more. 

Any eye for an eye

As per latest reports, a certain so called cultural organization will go on a rampage on Valentines Day. They will either forcibly marry off couples or ask them to wear rakhi. Come on!! Are people allowed to make such threats publicly in India? I know the various political implication of taking strong action and how it’s hard to crack down on cultural groups in a country like India. But come on! This is getting out of hand. Any organization with more than 20 members can threaten to create havoc or create havoc and get away with it. Its happening in the congress ruled states as well as the BJP ruled states. After a while it’s really frustrating. Any Tom, Dick and Harry can do anything if he does it in the name of Indian culture.

The problem lies in the fact that as a nation we are not that courageous. I feel that if 50 odd people come and start enforcing their own law, the rest of the citizens should mob up and trash the living day lights out of them. That is the only solution to the problem. Even though doing so is also taking law into ones own hands, what this does is that it will act as a deterrent for people who want to make a name for themselves through hooliganism. I strongly believe that this is the way forward. If 10 “sena’s “come and attack you, 20 of you should gang up and beat them up. Even though this is a highly uncivilized way of going about things, I feel that we are running out of options.

Another thing that I have noticed is that, the media will go all hammer and tongs about leaders committing crimes and let off on bail and allowed to speak to the public freely. The absurdity of their concern is that the same channel, who cries foul about the accused allowed to talk to the media, is the media to which the accused is talking to. Such incidents make you believe in a lot of conspiracy theories. Another thing that I have noticed is that how media gets to all the place well before the police gets there. And if the accused is hiding, the media is able to contact them from an undisclosed location! Is there a tie up between the police and the media? Is there a tie up between the culprits and the media? Are all the 3 parties in it together? Or is it just coincidents? Now I understand why the Americans come up with various conspiracy theories.

What ever may be the truth, I feel that people are getting more and more frustrated. If such incidents are not controlled by the authorities, the unrest will increase and it could turn real nasty

Do we need more, younger politicians?

I was listening to the usual rhetoric of a certain right wing extremist/ fundamentalist chief minister from a certain state in south India. It made me wonder if we needed more, younger politicians. Most of the political leaders we have are above 70. There are only a handful of young political leaders emerging. Then I thought about the various “elderly” politicians and realized that not all of them a maniacs. There are sensible ones and there are the insane ones. There are religious extremist, people who bring out regionalism, people who play cast politics. On the other hand there are many who are quite modern in their thinking, pro development, against fundamentalism.

Young or old, people are the same. Even among the youth there are extremist, fundamentalist. Good and bad are not just restricted to the old politicians. The same traits that are seen in the old politicians are seen in the young politicians, across the political spectrum. There are many examples of various young politicians create havoc against the so called “modern” life style of people. India is a unique country. Left, Right and Center, you have it all here.

So does the age of a politician really matter? I feel that age is a psychological thing, after all the whole world runs on sentiment. Perception matters a lot. If some one can instill confidence, it can make a world of difference. So when one sees a old guy who is about to collapse, heading a government, naturally confidence level of the people won’t be high. It can also affect how others view the government. On the other hand, if a young person with a lot of energy is heading the government, there will be a lot of positive energy surrounding him and it can rub off to others. Even if both the old and young do the same thing, a fresh face can make a lot of difference.

I believe that even if young politicians come, there will be extremist and religious fanatics among them. The only way such evils can be eliminated is though education and a change in mind set of the people. Even if a lot of young politicians come up, as there is illiteracy, poverty and various other issues, many of them would be tempted to exploit their sentiments for obtaining power.

In my book, young or old, it really doesn’t matter. It’s the person that matters. If a person can radiate energy, be sincere to his job and do the right thing, age wouldn’t really be a problem. Well to answer the question, “do we need more, younger politicians?” well of course we do, but youth doest necessarily mean, abracadabra and every thing is perfect.  

A month is a life time in politics

I remember a month ago saying how the congress is going to have a tough time in the coming elections and how the BJP is going to get a clear cut advantage. A month has gone by and the tables have turned 180 degrees. It seems that the congress is making all the right moves and the BJP is jumping from one mistake to another.

The people associate with the BJP all the right wing groups that are present in India and its justified. Unfortunately for the BJP many of these right wing groups with or without the BJP’s consent are creating havoc. The response the various chief ministers of BJP ruled states give isn’t helping matters either. Many instance of violence by right wing extremist have been witnessed in Karnataka for the past few months. In other words since the BJP came to power in Karnataka, a lot of right wing extremism has emerged. The various statements that the “esteemed” chief minister and the home minister of Karnataka have made, made me conclude that those two are right wing extremist and religious chauvinist. Well what else can be expected from a person who takes decisions on the basis of what his poojari says?

These incidents of right wing extremism do not help the cause of the BJP for the coming elections. People’s memories are very short and all these incidents are happening just before the elections, one can easily imagine what the out come of these incidents will be. On the other hand take the case of the congress. Last December inflation was at record high, prices of basic commodities are off the roof, the Mumbai attacks, and people were questioning the competency of the government. The situation has changed drastically. Fuel prices have come down by more than 7 rupees, prices of commodities are slowly coming down, inflation is supposed to hit 2% by March, the government is being very proactive while dealing with terrorism and Pakistan. The UPA government is making all the right noises. Credit must be given to the new home minister P Chidembaram. He might be doing the same job as what his predecessor has done, but his is able to connect with the masses. People get the impression that work is being done. He has managed to change the perception of the people to a certain extend. Even the Prime Minister looks twice as strong as he was couple of months ago.

General elections are going to happen in little over 2 months time. As we have seen for the recent events a lot can happen in 2 months. At this point I do feel that the UPA has an edge in the coming elections but then again 2 months is a long time. Any thing can happen. No one with full confidence will be able to say what the next government will look like. In fact I believe that even after the results are declared it will be quite hard to predict the core of the next government. As the saying goes there are no permanent enemies in politics. 

The value of life

I was watching the various award ceremonies that took place around the republic day. Various gallantry awards were given by the government and various other organizations. What I saw was that most of the awards went for the heroes of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. It was good that these heroes were given some recognition. Even though nothing can bring back to life the gesture of appreciation was good.       

This incident made me wonder. Are these people getting all the recognition and respect just because they literally died in front of us? Every year many Jawans die protecting our borders and yet we don’t seem to give them half of the recognition that we gave to the people who died in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. These Jawans also gave their life protecting the country, why should their death have any less value. I also have heard that all the people who died during the Mumbai attacks were not given the same recognition by the government. Some got a “higher” awards where as others got a “lower” award. How can one value one death more than the other. I am not saying that jawans who die in the border don’t get any recognition but many don’t. The terms of the awards they get are also different. 

Indian after independence had decided that all titles such as Sir would not be permitted in India as it will cause division in the country. Can’t a similar approach be taken on these gallantry awards? Surely the basis on which one classifies which person should get which award depends on the perception of the adjudicators. Is that necessary when it comes for people giving their lives for their country? I can understand various film awards, as it can be considered as a marketing gimmick. Is that needed for our gallantry awards? I am strongly opposed to putting a value on different lives. Doesn’t matter if it’s a constable or the head of the police department, nor does it matter if its fighting terrorist in Mumbai or Kashmir, the bottom line is they died fighting for the county. Even if a person didn’t die fighting for the country but put himself under danger, he should be given the same recognition as the martyrs. Even though these awards wont hamper national integration or anything similar, symbolically it looks bad when patriotic deeds are being rated. 

In a related incident I heard the pugilist who went for the 2008 Olympics were crying foul when they were not given the Padma awards. Personally I do not think they have any right to feel dejected. Its not as if they have been performing for a very long time and they are not getting recognized. True, they did the country proud, but surely they can’t be compared to a Abhinav Bindra. Bindra has been performing consistently for around 10 years or even more. I surely hope that they don’t think that they are as good as or better than Bindra. They also brought in the angle for the government being biased towards cricket. Even though harbajan might have had a few problems this year, he has been performing consistently since 2000. Other sports need encouragement, but lets not just be lenient on then just because they are not cricket. 

Slumdog Millionaire

You might say I was a little prejudice about the movies even before I saw it. If a movie is good rarely you see its cast and crew running around in circles going here and there. People will not go on yapping about the movie if it’s a master piece. So I was really circumspect about the movie. 30mins into the movie I felt completely justified.

If many people tell you that a movie is good, then it has to be good! If you say its not then you are not normal. I get the feeling this might be one of the reasons for the popularity of the movie or they might have paid the critics off. The western audience can be excused. They might have been under the impression that this was an “ethnic Indian” movie and we all know what purchasing power those two words have.

The problem I have with the movie is that for a realistic movie it chooses to be realistic when it pleases. I do not have any problem with the showing of the slums and slum life and the various atrocities surrounding it. If we want to be a developed country we need to address these issues. It could well be an eye opener for many. The thing that moved me the most was the love story in the movie. The lead character was in love with a girl who was literally raped by his brother and who was a full time prostitute, kind of put things in perspective for me.

I couldn’t understand what’s so great about the movie. The story isn’t that great. I do agree that India has many problems but it’s not as screwed up as the movie shows. Will any host mock his contestant about his life, in public? Will an overburdened Indian police officer even give a damn about a person who “ALLEGEDLY” cheated in a TV game show? Had it been made by some Indian director the critics would have definitely tore the movie apart. But as its not, it has to be good. God knows how the Hindi speaking children in the slum all of a sudden speaks English with an accent. It would have been much better if they had spoken English from start itself. The whole rise form the slum life was quite ridiculous.

The thing that bugged me the most was a line in the movie where a conversation broke out on the real Indian and the real America. That was way too condescending. I know that all of India is not developed but since when did the slums of Mumbai represent the real India? Am I also a part of India, aint I real? Don’t get me started off on the “real America”. 

I have never understood why we Indians feel that if anything is remotely associated with India, it’s Indian. The movie is not an Indian movie. We have many good Indian movies, embrace that. Are we that desperate that we have to find ridiculous connections and adopt non Indian movies as Indian? I wouldn’t say that this was an American or a British movie but it was more of an international movie. I hate it when Indians make something which is remotely associated to India as Indian. We are much better than that.  

The movie is definitely a good watch. Lets not over hype it!