Mob Censorship: What are we scared of?

Whenever a new movie dealing with a subject closer to reality comes, it gets into troubled waters. Political parties, activitists, so-called social groups wear the hat of moral police and attack the theatres. They justify this stupid act by saying that the subject of the movie is offensive to the Indian culture or the movie is based on incidents which are not true. But do they actually intend to safeguard the culture and society? I do not think so.

Any incident that occurs in India which attracts national attention, there would be someone or the another trying to gain mileage out of it. We can take the recent example of the movie, Parzania. Its a movie about the trauma a parsi family faces during the Gujarat riots. Now here is a movie based on true incident which people should know about. But still mobs attacked the theatres and banned the screening of the movie in Gujarat. The reason had nothing to do with culture or moralities. It was done to save the face of the state government.

A few years back, shooting for Deepa Mehta's "Water" met the same fate when Hindu activists destroyed the sets, as the movie deals with the sorry plight of Hindu widows. Come on.....What are we scared of? Are our roots so weak that a movie would shake them up? Moreover, where is our right to freedom of expression? And we take pride in calling ourselves the largest democracy!!!!!

We should get a chance to look at the various perspectives, to be able to judge and make an opinion about something. Who are these political parties and activists to decide whats good or bad for us? Somebody has made a movie; Go watch it if you want to or just sit at home. No one is compelling anyone. If I want to watch a movie like Parzania to get a flavor of the reality, I definitely deserve a chance.

Nice picture, isn't it? It was taken on one lonely afternoon at Hyderabad (30th April 2006 to be precise) from the terrace of my place. It kinda reflects the state of my life too....Though I am surrounded by problems galore but I am still there....and I will come out.

Hello Readers, I am Back!!!!

I am back after being out of action for three weeks. I was off due to a personal emergency. From now onwards, I promise to be regular in blogging.

I had been to Delhi and the weather over there was in contrast to the hot weather at Hyderabad. It was quite cold but believe me guys, Delhi looks really beautiful in winter mornings.

Before leaving I had given my predictions on India's WC squad (see below). Though, I was bang on target with my predictions, I do feel that there are some gaps in the side. I feel that the newly laid pitches at the carribeans will offer assistance to the spinners and thus, Ramesh Powar should be on the plane, instead of Munaf Patel. Sreesanth's form in one dayers is also questionable but he gives his 100% on the field and could be pretty effective on his day. Plus, he is a good fielder.

Even with the gaps, India has a good and balanced side and would do well in West Indies. Lets cheer our boys and help them bring home the glory.

INDIA....INDIA....INDIA

Come March 2007 and the whole nation will come to a standstill. People will forget about their problems, productivity in offices will go down, producers will hesistate from releasing their movies, products will come up with fancy advertisements and guys will have the full control over the TV. That is because the "baap" of all cricketing events is starting in early March. And it will go till end of April!!!!! so guys, lots of fun coming our way.

Everyone is busy doing their own analysis, making strategies, selecting a team. Everyone in India can Bat and is also a cricket pandit. I am no different. Since World Cup is round the corner, I thought I (like everone else) will help the selectors make a decision by picking my list of 15 players. Though I must say that it is a tough task. West Indies have built some new stadiums and most pitches are brand new. If I were to believe the statements of the West Indian officials then "no one" knows how will the pitch behave. So it is going to be difficult to pick the team, especially the bowlers. But do not worry guys, I am here. Here is my XV;

1. Robin Uthappa
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Sourav Ganguly
4. Rahul Dravid
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. Virendra Sehwag
7. Mahinder Singh Dhoni (He should be promoted up the order if we get a good start)
8. Irfan Pathan
9. Ajit Agarkar
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Anil Kumble

Others: Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Munaf Patel, S.Sreesanth

I think, the above mentioned is the final team that will travel to the WC and to a large extent this is the right combination. A couple of players like Ramesh Powar and Gautam Gambhir are likely to miss the bus even after some good performances. Gambhir has been inconsistent and the conditions at West Indies generally does not suit spinners, ruling out Powar. There are good chances that both these players may not make it to the caribbeans but a lot depends upon the performances of Virendra Sehwag and Munaf Patel in the Srilankan series. Powar deserves a chance though, on expense of Munaf Patel. I would go with Virendra Sehwag instead of Gambhir.

Some sense has finally prevailed amongst the 5 wise men of Indian cricket and they righthly dropped Suresh Raina after a series of dismal performances. Talent is never enough; it has to be backed by good performances. If Raina does not get his act straight soon, he will go the Hrishikesh Kanitkar way.

So guys, I took care of the tough part. Now you guys help me with the easy part. Lets CHEER for the Men in Blue. Something tells me that we are in for a special treat. In all probability (you never know with Sachin), it will be Sachin's last World Cup. I am sure he will sign off in style.

And we have the winning combo.....11 PLAY & A BILLION PRAY......after all, a billion prayers cannot be easily denied!!!!

Superman

When I think of him, the words that immediately come in my mind are loving, emotional, kind, honest, self-respectful and strength of character. Since my childhood I have always admired him. He is a man with a great personality.

During my childhood, We hardly got a chance to stay with each other. And during those days, I used to be so scared of him that I never tried to understand the person he is and how much he loves me.

Times have changed and we are more of friends now. We discuss anything and everything under the sun, much to the amusement of my friends. I have always looked up to him. He has always been there as my pillar of strength. Its always a great feeling to have someone to back you whenever you are making a decision. I know that if things go wrong, some people will stay by my side and most will abandon me........but he will definitely be there to support me and pull me out. He is my Superman.....he is my dad. I love you papa, more than anything and anyone and you know that.

Its a SIX...straight into a billion hearts!!!!!

Dhoni is confidence personified. The kind of shots he plays speaks a lot about the man. These shots make every cricket coach and "cricket pandit" scratch their head with disbelief. He is fearless and has his own style. When in full flow, he is quite a sight.

I personally believe that the team is wasting his talent by pushing him down the order. Players like Dhoni (There are not many) are good because of their hand eye coordination and they like the ball to come on the bat, which happens at the beginning of the innings.

But, we do need a explosive player down the order. Virendra Sehwag has been picked for the Srilankan series. He, after getting dropped from the Indian Team had one good game against Haryana but he still made it to the side. That clearly gives a hint that selectors/team management wants Viru in the World Cup side. I do not question that thinking since even I believe that we need Virendra Sehwag in the WC team. With his current form and level of confidence, Sehwag should play lower down the order. He is very good against the spinners and he can be destructive in the slog overs.

Now with Sehwag possibly filling the position of a destructive player lower down the order, I think Dhoni should be sent on one-down position (It certainly does depend upon the situation though. If it is a slow track, if the ball is swinging around or if India has lost the opening wicket cheaply, then Dravid is certainly the man). That way, Dhoni will get more balls to set himself in and then start "his business". On his day (and on his kinda pitch), he can be rip apart any bowling attack and make any captain look towards the skies for ideas. We need big runs from Dhoni's bat to have a chance in the "Big Daddy" of all cricketing events.

Dhoni's shots may not come from any cricket manual, but they definitely come from the heart.....or I should say....a billion hearts.

Joke: Manmohan Singh Vs Musharraf

Manmohan Singh and Musharraf meet up in Islamabad for talks on nuclear arms. When Manmohan Singh sits down, he notices Musharraf's chair has three buttons on the armrest. They begin talking but after 5 minutes Musharraf presses a button. Suddenly a boxing glove pops out of Manmohan Singh chair and bashes him on his face.

Manmohan Singh, barely believing it, carries on talking but after another few minutes Musharraf presses a second button and out comes a large boot and kicks MMS (Manmohan Singh) in the butt. Manmohan Singh is kicked off but still remains outwardly calm. They resume the talk, but after 5 minutes Musharraf presses the final button, and from under the table another boxing glove hits Manmohan Singh. The Indian PM is really fed up by it now and stands up to leave. We'll continue this talk Next week in the New Delhi" says the Prime Minister. Musharraf, choking from laughing, is too proud to say no, so the appointment stands.

A week later Manmohan Singh receives Musharraf in the Prime Minister’s Office, and as Musharraf sits down, he sees three buttons in the armrest of Manmohan Singhs chair. As the 20 min meeting goes on, Musharraf sees Manmohan Singh press the first button, and ducks really fast, but nothing seems to happen. This doesn't stop Manmohan Singh from laughing.....really loudly.

After this, Indian PM continues where he left off, until he presses another button. Musharraf reacts really quickly, and jumps up. Absolutely nothing happens, and this time Manmohan Singh falls out of his chair laughing.

Musharraf doesn’t get it - what the hell is happening here? But he hasn't been harmed yet, so he sits down again to talk further. After A few minutes Indian PM presses the final button. This time, Musharraf stays sitting, but Manmohan Singh isn't. He's rolling on the floor, doubled up from laughing. Musharraf is really annoyed by now, so he stands up from his chair and shouts: "I've had enough of this, I'm going back to Pakistan "

Manmohan Singh: (Through tears of laughter from the floor) -

"PAKISTAN?? WHAT PAKISTAN??? DO YOU THINK IT'S STILL THERE??"

Amma

Amma is my grandmother. She has been a guiding force in my life. During my childhood, she used to tell me stories that inculcated high values in me (At least, I would like to believe that they managed to do that!!!!). I have cried on her patriotic and emotional stories but believe me, I have learnt a lot from them too. My childhood has been full of such stories and lessons.

Once an old beggar came to amma's place while she was getting out of the house to watch a movie. All the kids, including my father, were very excited as watching movies used to be a luxury back in those days. The beggar seemed very hungry and asked for food. The group was getting late for the movie so amma told the beggar that they are going out. The beggar said that he would wait and he lied down on the porch. The group left for the movie but the image of the hungry old beggar kept haunting amma. Mid-way she asked the rickshaw-wallah to return to the house, much to the anguish of the excited children. They returned back and amma gave food to the beggar. The old beggar was happy and amma was relieved. She could not have enjoyed the movie when an old man was waiting for her to return and give him food. Thats my amma. Today, I am sure that I would do the same thing but a lot others won't. I have inherited it from amma, my amma.

Go India Go

Yesterday was a great day for India. First we convincingly won a cricket match against Windies with Sachin Tendulkar hitting his 41st hundred. And then came the news that Tata has acquired Anglo-Dutch steel-maker Corus. It is a mammoth deal of around USD 12 Bn (Rs 54000 Crores). This acquisition makes Tata the world's 5th largest steel maker with Mittal Steels on the Numero Uno position. Now we have Indians manning two of the five largest steel companies!!!!! India is truly going global. Get aside, Indians are coming. Go India Go!!!!!!