Receiving eight Oscars is the ultimate moment of happiness for makers of the movie and for many Indians too as Slumdog millionaire has broken many records today at the coveted 81st Oscar awards ceremony. The story about a Mumbai tea boy who rises from poverty and enters a television quiz show to win millions and find the love of his life, won eight Oscars of the nine categories in which it was nominated at the 81st Academy awards. The film is based on a novel,Q&A, by the Indian writer and diplomat Vikas Swarup and was adapted by Simon Beaufoy, the British screenwriter of The Full Monty.
Slumdog Millionaire is set in the city of Mumbai and depicts the poverty of the slum colony of Dharavi from where the hero hails. The movie revolves around the story of how a slum boy named Jamal(the lead character) gets a chance to participate in the famous television show 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' and finally wins it. All questions asked in the show are related to the hardships faced by him in his life.The common Bollywood theme is escapism with songs and dance. So Slumdog Millionare deviates from the standard pattern of a Bollywood film. It's a bridge between a Hollywood and a Bollywood film as the starcast comprises of Indians, but has been produced and directed by Britishers.
Slumdog Millionaire has received bouquets in the west and brickbats in our country.Resulpokutty after receiving the Oscar was right when he said that he created history. He is the first Indian to receive it except of course for Satyajit Ray who received it honorarily. A.R.Rahman winning two Oscars is also the first Indian to receive two in a succession on the same dais. It was pleasure to watch him perform live singing Jai Ho before the western audience.
Cliched terminologies as 'rags to riches story','poor man's extraordinary journey' have been associated with the movie. It has also cropped up every time with a new controversy testing Danny Boyle's patience, who was even heard saying in one of his interviews "In India it wouldn't come as a surprise as anybody could protest against the film". We have a wide range of names cropping up from Amitabh Bachan to Shahrukh to Dharavi's slum dwellers, the latest in the list being Arundhati Roy either accusing or defending it. Some Indians found the word “slum dog” in the movie’s title to be insulting to slum-dwellers.
Arundhati has a different opinion on the movie."Poverty sells but the poor do not. The film gives false hope to the poor that they too could become millionaires one day. Watching Slumdog Millionaire was like speeding on a highway with lots of potholes".
Bachan said that "if SM projects India as [a] third-world, dirty, underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations."
Shahrukh Khan, slamming critics of Oscar nominated 'Slumdog Millionaire' has said that the film presents to the world a ''visually appealing'' India. Shahrukh, who has read the original book as well as the script said, "Isn't that (poverty and slums) a reality? If you (critics) have a problem with the word slumdog, why don't you look positively and see that there is a word millionaire or 'crorepati' also."
Whatever reactions it has faced (to each their own),it has succeeded in captivating audiences all over the world and has swept away the much awaited most coveted award 'THE OSCAR'. The feelings in all Indian hearts is understandable as so its a moment to cherish. So enjoy for its another occasion to feel proud to be an Indian.
Smile Pinki:Another movie shot in India (though a small 39 minute documentary)also received an Oscar. The documentary was made by distinguished film-maker Meg Mlyan. A real world fairy tale, which celebrates the work of the plastic surgeon Subodh Kumar Singh in providing free surgery to fix the cleft lip of poor young children, won the Oscar in the best documentary (short)category on Sunday night.The film shot entirely in Varanasi and villages of Uttar Pradesh focuses on Pinki Kumari whose life is transformed by the simple surgery.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
My current read Soheir Khashoggi's "Nadia's Song"
Soheir was born in Alexandria, Egypt. Her first acclaimed novel,MIRAGE was published in 1996.
The cover page of this book reads ' A captivating story of triumph and tragedy- and a powerful but forbidden love'. I found it quite interesting. This is the second book I have read written by an Egyptian author, the first being Khalid Hosseini's "A thousand suns".It was a beautiful book read.
Soheir is the sister of Adnan Khashoggi(billionaire who was once connected to Jackie Kennedy/Onassis) and is Dodi Al Fayed's auntie. Her late sister Samira Khashoggi was Dodi's mother. She has produced 3 best sellers but the first titled Mirage is banned in Saudi Arabia. Soheir dedicated Nadia's Song to the memory of her dear nephew Dodi al Fayed(of late princess Diana fame).
Set against five decades of turbulent Middle Eastern history, from World War II to the first Gulf War, Nadia's Song is a moving saga of mothers and daughters and the unbreakable bond between them.
Karima,born to a humble servant working in cotton plantations owned by rich Britishers, her journey of life sees numerous upheavals. She falls in love with Charles, son of plantation owner and losses him in an accident. But by then she is an unwed mother and her own mother dies of an explosion. Her brother, Omar forcefully gets her married to an old man, who in few years dies in a fire outbreak at a hotel, wherein she gets separated from her eight year old daughter, Nadia.
She has been gifted with a beautiful voice and is called the Nightingale of Egypt. This expression reminds me of Lata Mangeshkar who is often addressed as the Nightingale of India. Nadia becomes one of the most accomplished singers of Egypt, but her songs carry the pain of her pining for her daughter.
Given a new name and identity, Karima's lost daughter grows up many miles away. It is only when an unexpected chain of events leads "Gaby" back to Egypt that she begins to unravel the mystery of her past and discover the happiness she longs for.
Egypt was an unknown territory to me in every aspect till I touched this book. Egypt for me meant the famous river Nile, its pyramids and its capital city, Cairo.
So this book is a real eye opener in the way it depicts about Egypt in its pristine glory during the rule of last pharaoh and it's successive waging of wars to claim control over Suez canal. The brutal loss it suffered in the hands of Italy and later its rise to glory under Anwar Sadat's rule. The city of Alexandria which is the scene of action has been beautifully narrated.
In a way it falls into the usual genre of a book authored by a woman and has two women Nadia and Karima as the central characters.One tends to compare it with other books written on women, "A thousand suns", " Not without my daughter". But this book stands out in its positive treatment of its female characters. It absorbs the readers interest and is definitely a good read.
The cover page of this book reads ' A captivating story of triumph and tragedy- and a powerful but forbidden love'. I found it quite interesting. This is the second book I have read written by an Egyptian author, the first being Khalid Hosseini's "A thousand suns".It was a beautiful book read.
Soheir is the sister of Adnan Khashoggi(billionaire who was once connected to Jackie Kennedy/Onassis) and is Dodi Al Fayed's auntie. Her late sister Samira Khashoggi was Dodi's mother. She has produced 3 best sellers but the first titled Mirage is banned in Saudi Arabia. Soheir dedicated Nadia's Song to the memory of her dear nephew Dodi al Fayed(of late princess Diana fame).
Set against five decades of turbulent Middle Eastern history, from World War II to the first Gulf War, Nadia's Song is a moving saga of mothers and daughters and the unbreakable bond between them.
Karima,born to a humble servant working in cotton plantations owned by rich Britishers, her journey of life sees numerous upheavals. She falls in love with Charles, son of plantation owner and losses him in an accident. But by then she is an unwed mother and her own mother dies of an explosion. Her brother, Omar forcefully gets her married to an old man, who in few years dies in a fire outbreak at a hotel, wherein she gets separated from her eight year old daughter, Nadia.
She has been gifted with a beautiful voice and is called the Nightingale of Egypt. This expression reminds me of Lata Mangeshkar who is often addressed as the Nightingale of India. Nadia becomes one of the most accomplished singers of Egypt, but her songs carry the pain of her pining for her daughter.
Given a new name and identity, Karima's lost daughter grows up many miles away. It is only when an unexpected chain of events leads "Gaby" back to Egypt that she begins to unravel the mystery of her past and discover the happiness she longs for.
Egypt was an unknown territory to me in every aspect till I touched this book. Egypt for me meant the famous river Nile, its pyramids and its capital city, Cairo.
So this book is a real eye opener in the way it depicts about Egypt in its pristine glory during the rule of last pharaoh and it's successive waging of wars to claim control over Suez canal. The brutal loss it suffered in the hands of Italy and later its rise to glory under Anwar Sadat's rule. The city of Alexandria which is the scene of action has been beautifully narrated.
In a way it falls into the usual genre of a book authored by a woman and has two women Nadia and Karima as the central characters.One tends to compare it with other books written on women, "A thousand suns", " Not without my daughter". But this book stands out in its positive treatment of its female characters. It absorbs the readers interest and is definitely a good read.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
I recently got into the habit of book reading. But I realised after few months of reading that I was forgetting names of books, authors and sometimes even the storyline. A casual discussion with my husband on the habit of book reading gave me good insights. He suggested that book reading as a habit is an excellent habit, but its a passive habit. To make it an active habit, one needs to put in effort to write down a few lines after finishing reading it. I really liked the suggestion but was feeling lazy to pen down a few lines.
I have read very few books as I ain't an avid book reader. Book reading recently caught my fancy, so let me recollect names of few books that I read. Biographies of Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama, JFK. The last one didn't sustain my interest for long. I try reading 2/3 books at a time, a mix of heavy and light reading. Some more names' Miss Prym', 'Veronica must die' by Paulo Coelho, John Grisham's ' The painted house', ' Stay hungry, Stay foolish'( a book about 25 IIM graduates who chucked away lucrative careers to start something on their own) , ' Not without my daughter' by Betty Mehmoody and William Hoffer'.
The one book which I just finished reading is 'Tuesdays with Morrie' by Mitch Albom. This particular book really touched my heart. Its a beautiful story of the relationship between a student and his mentor. The student Mitch Albom adores his Professor of Sociology, Prof Morris Schwartz and becomes very close to him during his years in college. Mitch promises on the last day of college in the year 1974 to keep in touch with him after he finishes college, but fails to keep his promise. The story was later adapted by Thomas Rickman into a television movie (directed by Mick Jackson), which was aired on 5 December 1999 and starred Hank Azaria.
A causal channel flipping in the year 1995 and he sees his professor on TV, an old man shrunken counting his last days of death with a smile on his lips. Mitch feels terribly guilty and rushes to meet Morris. The book shares in depth the last few days spent with his Professor, who has been diagnosed with ALS,amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease which has no cure. Mitch visits him every Tuesday during his last days of death. It is to keep up his tradition of attending to his lectures every Tuesday during his college days.
The Professor shares his beautiful secrets of life and good aphorisms which are learning lessons for one and all. When I finished reading the book I felt after Morris's death that I lost someone of my own. Mitch with his beautiful narrative style transports us live to Morris's house every Tuesday and hence the grief after reading weighs so heavily in every ones heart.
Some of Morrie's greatest insights are his views on how our culture plays into our lives. He spent his life creating his own culture, listening to his heart and doing what was right for him, versus what was right by society's standards. One problem he sees is that we tend to see each other as dissimilar rather than alike. We are taught to be independent and unique, but in reality we all have the same needs. He emphasizes investment in people, not things. When all is said and done, we will be remembered not by our bank accounts or stock portfolios, but by the time we spent listening to a friend or helping a family member
I personally feel the book deals with two stories simultaneously without the reader realizing it. One a superficial level its a story of a man and a disease. But when scratched it conveys a warm message of a professor of social psychology who has come to understand that life's complexities can be broken down into simple truths. Morrie speaks to every person because he is every person. He has led a simple yet meaningful life that inspires you to live yours to the fullest.
Perhaps his story is more powerful because one is not only taking in his wisdom, but as reader we are experiencing his death. In his words, he is fortunate enough to know he is dying, to take stock of his life as it comes to an end. He handles this with bravery and compassion, and when the final moment comes we feel as though we lost a dear friend.
A FEW MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM THE BOOK CAPTURED IN MY BLOG FOREVER:
Here are few of my favourite quotes from the book.
" a man frozen inside his own flesh".
"I hope that one day you will think of me as your friend".
"Life is a series of pulls back and forth.You want to do one thing,but you are bound to do something else.Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted even when you should never take anything for granted. A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle".
"The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves.And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it".
"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half asleep, even when they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning".
"Dying is the only one thing to be sad over. Living unhappily is something else. "I am on the last great journey here- and people want me to tell them what to pack."
"Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do"; "Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it"; Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others"; Don't assume that it's too late to get involved."
"All right I'll be your coach. And you can be my player. You can play all the lovely parts of life that I'm too old for now."
"Which side wins? Love always wins."
"If you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too-even when you are in the dark. Even when you are falling."
" A teacher affects eternity. He will never tell where his influence stops."
"Same for loneliness. you let go, let the tears flow, feel it completely-but eventually be able to say, " all right, that was my moment with loneliness. I ain't afraid of feeling lonely, but now I am going to put that loneliness aside and know that there are other emotions in the world, and I am going to experience them as well."
At seventy eight he was giving in as a adult and taking back as a child."
"Death ends a life, not a relationship".
"Be compassionate. And take responsibility for each other. If we learned these lessons, this world would be so much a better place."
"Love each other or die."
"What's wrong in being number two."
"Invest in human family. Invest in people. Build a community of those who love you and those you love.'
"In the beginning of life, we are infants, we need others to survive. At the end of our life, we need others to survive. BUT, HERE'S THE SECRET: ;IN BETWEEN, WE NEED OTHERS AS WELL."
" In marriage, you get tested.You find out who you are, who the other person is, and how you accommodate or don't."
There are few rules about love and marriage. "If you don't respect the other person, you are gonna have a lot of trouble. ?If you don't know how to compromise, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. If you cant talk openly about what goes on between you,you're gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don't have a common set of values in life, you 're gonna have a lot of trouble. Your values must be alike."
I have read very few books as I ain't an avid book reader. Book reading recently caught my fancy, so let me recollect names of few books that I read. Biographies of Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama, JFK. The last one didn't sustain my interest for long. I try reading 2/3 books at a time, a mix of heavy and light reading. Some more names' Miss Prym', 'Veronica must die' by Paulo Coelho, John Grisham's ' The painted house', ' Stay hungry, Stay foolish'( a book about 25 IIM graduates who chucked away lucrative careers to start something on their own) , ' Not without my daughter' by Betty Mehmoody and William Hoffer'.
The one book which I just finished reading is 'Tuesdays with Morrie' by Mitch Albom. This particular book really touched my heart. Its a beautiful story of the relationship between a student and his mentor. The student Mitch Albom adores his Professor of Sociology, Prof Morris Schwartz and becomes very close to him during his years in college. Mitch promises on the last day of college in the year 1974 to keep in touch with him after he finishes college, but fails to keep his promise. The story was later adapted by Thomas Rickman into a television movie (directed by Mick Jackson), which was aired on 5 December 1999 and starred Hank Azaria.
A causal channel flipping in the year 1995 and he sees his professor on TV, an old man shrunken counting his last days of death with a smile on his lips. Mitch feels terribly guilty and rushes to meet Morris. The book shares in depth the last few days spent with his Professor, who has been diagnosed with ALS,amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease which has no cure. Mitch visits him every Tuesday during his last days of death. It is to keep up his tradition of attending to his lectures every Tuesday during his college days.
The Professor shares his beautiful secrets of life and good aphorisms which are learning lessons for one and all. When I finished reading the book I felt after Morris's death that I lost someone of my own. Mitch with his beautiful narrative style transports us live to Morris's house every Tuesday and hence the grief after reading weighs so heavily in every ones heart.
Some of Morrie's greatest insights are his views on how our culture plays into our lives. He spent his life creating his own culture, listening to his heart and doing what was right for him, versus what was right by society's standards. One problem he sees is that we tend to see each other as dissimilar rather than alike. We are taught to be independent and unique, but in reality we all have the same needs. He emphasizes investment in people, not things. When all is said and done, we will be remembered not by our bank accounts or stock portfolios, but by the time we spent listening to a friend or helping a family member
I personally feel the book deals with two stories simultaneously without the reader realizing it. One a superficial level its a story of a man and a disease. But when scratched it conveys a warm message of a professor of social psychology who has come to understand that life's complexities can be broken down into simple truths. Morrie speaks to every person because he is every person. He has led a simple yet meaningful life that inspires you to live yours to the fullest.
Perhaps his story is more powerful because one is not only taking in his wisdom, but as reader we are experiencing his death. In his words, he is fortunate enough to know he is dying, to take stock of his life as it comes to an end. He handles this with bravery and compassion, and when the final moment comes we feel as though we lost a dear friend.
A FEW MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM THE BOOK CAPTURED IN MY BLOG FOREVER:
Here are few of my favourite quotes from the book.
" a man frozen inside his own flesh".
"I hope that one day you will think of me as your friend".
"Life is a series of pulls back and forth.You want to do one thing,but you are bound to do something else.Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted even when you should never take anything for granted. A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle".
"The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves.And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it".
"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half asleep, even when they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning".
"Dying is the only one thing to be sad over. Living unhappily is something else. "I am on the last great journey here- and people want me to tell them what to pack."
"Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do"; "Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it"; Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others"; Don't assume that it's too late to get involved."
"All right I'll be your coach. And you can be my player. You can play all the lovely parts of life that I'm too old for now."
"Which side wins? Love always wins."
"If you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too-even when you are in the dark. Even when you are falling."
" A teacher affects eternity. He will never tell where his influence stops."
"Same for loneliness. you let go, let the tears flow, feel it completely-but eventually be able to say, " all right, that was my moment with loneliness. I ain't afraid of feeling lonely, but now I am going to put that loneliness aside and know that there are other emotions in the world, and I am going to experience them as well."
At seventy eight he was giving in as a adult and taking back as a child."
"Death ends a life, not a relationship".
"Be compassionate. And take responsibility for each other. If we learned these lessons, this world would be so much a better place."
"Love each other or die."
"What's wrong in being number two."
"Invest in human family. Invest in people. Build a community of those who love you and those you love.'
"In the beginning of life, we are infants, we need others to survive. At the end of our life, we need others to survive. BUT, HERE'S THE SECRET: ;IN BETWEEN, WE NEED OTHERS AS WELL."
" In marriage, you get tested.You find out who you are, who the other person is, and how you accommodate or don't."
There are few rules about love and marriage. "If you don't respect the other person, you are gonna have a lot of trouble. ?If you don't know how to compromise, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. If you cant talk openly about what goes on between you,you're gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don't have a common set of values in life, you 're gonna have a lot of trouble. Your values must be alike."
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Freedom
This particular quote caught my eye, so I wished to put on my blog "Freedom is the right to live as we wish." It's sweet and short but conveys the feelings of every Tibetan. Majority of the countries in today's world are making giant strides in all aspects which includes our Indian economy too, and it's a shame that we have a neighbour Tibet, with whom we share our boundaries still chained crying for freedom. Fifty years have passed and it's still an unanswerable question which generation of Tibet can say that they are free in their own land. How painful it would have been to see one's own country being annexed as a part of other county and being forcibly occupied. It's the humiliation of the worst sort. We Indians should be the best sympathizers as we too suffered colonial rule.
Tibetans have always been peace loving people having adopted non-violence as a way of life. Causing another being harm or killing or even disrespecting another living being is considered equivalent to a sin in Buddhism and Buddhism is their way of life. Tibetan Buddhism cannot be discussed in isolation without mentioning their spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
He is revered and is believed to be a living incarnate of Buddha. The current fourteenth Dalai Lama is respected the world over for spreading his message of peace and harmony. The Dalai Lama was born as Llamo Thondup on July 6, 1935, to a poor family in Taktser in the province of Amdo. He was spotted at the age of three as the new incarnate and was accepted as the fourteenth Dalai Lama. He was acknowledged as the spiritual head and was educated in the field of Tibetan art and culture, Sanskrit, medicine and Buddhist philosophy. But life has not been a a bed of roses for this small child. When he was fifteen years old, China forcibly occupied Tibet claiming Tibet as its own territory. The Tibetan government appealed to the UN, but since Tibet was not a member, its pleas were ignored. Dalai Lama was forced to become their political head and tried negotiating with Chinese Government, but it bore no fruit. The following years saw continuous negotitations between Dalai Lama and successive Chinese Governments , which failed and one day led to his own residence at Norbulinka monastery being shot down by the Chinese. Dalai Lama decided to leave and requested thethen Indain Government for asylum. He and thousands of Tibetans were granted asylum by Pt. Nehru in Dharmasala in India. The Dalai Lama has set up the Tibetan Government in Exile and has been leading the freedom struggle from there ever since.
The Dalai Lama has consistently striven to open up dialogue and negotiate with the Chinese Government, from Chairman Mao, to Chou-En- Lai, to Deng Xiaoping, and now to the current leadership . The Chinese Government refuses to budge from its stand that Tibet belongs to China. Thought the Dalai Lama has done a lot by maintaining a non-violent method in dealing with Chinese governments, many Tibetans are becoming restless with this method and strongly believe that non-violence practised for so long did not yield any result.
The passing of Olympic flag through many countries sparked off a chain of protests worldwide showing the brewing impatience of every Tibetan who want freedom . Generations of Tibetans have not visited their homeland and long to visit their independent country . China on the other hand is accusing the Dalai Lama to be instigating violence and has even accused Tibetans staying in India of having links with the Al-Qaeda and propagating violence.
The Olympics in Beijing suddenly shifted the focus on Tibet at least for a short span and caught worldwide attention. But I really doubt if the issue will burn as long as the Olympic flame burns. Some people opine Tibetans must seize their right to self determination to save the simmering country, while some feel an open democratic dialogue will help in granting autonomy at least if not complete freedom. But whatever may be the outcome, oppression of Tibet for long is not a sustainable solution.
Tibetans have always been peace loving people having adopted non-violence as a way of life. Causing another being harm or killing or even disrespecting another living being is considered equivalent to a sin in Buddhism and Buddhism is their way of life. Tibetan Buddhism cannot be discussed in isolation without mentioning their spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
He is revered and is believed to be a living incarnate of Buddha. The current fourteenth Dalai Lama is respected the world over for spreading his message of peace and harmony. The Dalai Lama was born as Llamo Thondup on July 6, 1935, to a poor family in Taktser in the province of Amdo. He was spotted at the age of three as the new incarnate and was accepted as the fourteenth Dalai Lama. He was acknowledged as the spiritual head and was educated in the field of Tibetan art and culture, Sanskrit, medicine and Buddhist philosophy. But life has not been a a bed of roses for this small child. When he was fifteen years old, China forcibly occupied Tibet claiming Tibet as its own territory. The Tibetan government appealed to the UN, but since Tibet was not a member, its pleas were ignored. Dalai Lama was forced to become their political head and tried negotiating with Chinese Government, but it bore no fruit. The following years saw continuous negotitations between Dalai Lama and successive Chinese Governments , which failed and one day led to his own residence at Norbulinka monastery being shot down by the Chinese. Dalai Lama decided to leave and requested thethen Indain Government for asylum. He and thousands of Tibetans were granted asylum by Pt. Nehru in Dharmasala in India. The Dalai Lama has set up the Tibetan Government in Exile and has been leading the freedom struggle from there ever since.
The Dalai Lama has consistently striven to open up dialogue and negotiate with the Chinese Government, from Chairman Mao, to Chou-En- Lai, to Deng Xiaoping, and now to the current leadership . The Chinese Government refuses to budge from its stand that Tibet belongs to China. Thought the Dalai Lama has done a lot by maintaining a non-violent method in dealing with Chinese governments, many Tibetans are becoming restless with this method and strongly believe that non-violence practised for so long did not yield any result.
The passing of Olympic flag through many countries sparked off a chain of protests worldwide showing the brewing impatience of every Tibetan who want freedom . Generations of Tibetans have not visited their homeland and long to visit their independent country . China on the other hand is accusing the Dalai Lama to be instigating violence and has even accused Tibetans staying in India of having links with the Al-Qaeda and propagating violence.
The Olympics in Beijing suddenly shifted the focus on Tibet at least for a short span and caught worldwide attention. But I really doubt if the issue will burn as long as the Olympic flame burns. Some people opine Tibetans must seize their right to self determination to save the simmering country, while some feel an open democratic dialogue will help in granting autonomy at least if not complete freedom. But whatever may be the outcome, oppression of Tibet for long is not a sustainable solution.
Friday, May 9, 2008
cricket as never before
The cricket frenzy nation seems to be lapping every IPL match with a passion never seen or imagined before. An idea initially thought by Zee's Subhash Chandra gave birth to ICL. Lalit Modi, the maverick toyed the idea of IPL to give a befitting reply to the ICL and cricket got a new definition. Lalit Modi seems to be the new sensational icon having merged cricket with bollywood entertainment with his concept of IPL thereby opening a new chapter in the history of cricket. Every match is opening to packed audiences and half way through and still the 20/20 mania seems to be spreading like wild fire. It has attracted every segment of the society, the young and the old, working class, housewives, children etc. My nine year old daughter who as far as I know never showed any interest in cricket before corrects if I say, Chennai Kings and not Chennai Super Kings.
The mix of wholesome Bollywood masala along with popcorns and cool drinks in the stadium reminds me of an wholesome Bollywood entertainer laced with fun, excitement, suspense and nail biting finishes. In addition to it the the Shreesanth-Bhajji spat, Shoaib Akhtar's comeback, each action is followed by people like true followers of serials aired on television. Time is at a premium in today's world and IPL with its 20/20 concept seems to have cashed on to this aptly.
The best part seems to be cricketers of different nations playing side by side promoting fraternity, harmony. The flip side could also be each team sharing their dressing room secrets to the other mates, but all is fair in love and cricket. I was never a die hard cricket fan,but then this fever has caught on to me also and the best part is it is keeping me away from the scorching heat outside. I only wish I too like so many other fans could be rich by few thousands if not crores as the cricket stars for watching the matches with such enthusiasm. U guys can have the last laugh at this.
The mix of wholesome Bollywood masala along with popcorns and cool drinks in the stadium reminds me of an wholesome Bollywood entertainer laced with fun, excitement, suspense and nail biting finishes. In addition to it the the Shreesanth-Bhajji spat, Shoaib Akhtar's comeback, each action is followed by people like true followers of serials aired on television. Time is at a premium in today's world and IPL with its 20/20 concept seems to have cashed on to this aptly.
The best part seems to be cricketers of different nations playing side by side promoting fraternity, harmony. The flip side could also be each team sharing their dressing room secrets to the other mates, but all is fair in love and cricket. I was never a die hard cricket fan,but then this fever has caught on to me also and the best part is it is keeping me away from the scorching heat outside. I only wish I too like so many other fans could be rich by few thousands if not crores as the cricket stars for watching the matches with such enthusiasm. U guys can have the last laugh at this.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Loneliness
How does someone define loneliness? A state of mind when a person experiences a sense of emptiness and isolation. It’s more than a feeling of being with someone, because one can be lonely even amidst people. Modern man might be jostling for space amidst the chaotic traffic but the inner loneliness seems to be getting louder and louder within him. Loneliness creates such hollowness that nothing seems or feels right.
Couples sometimes experience loneliness even when they are with their partners or spouses. Even after years of being together one partner may feel sheer emptiness or hollowness. People can be lonely even when they are in love and even when they are out of love. When in love sometimes the feeling of loneliness instead of being the reason for bonding tends to be the reason for arguments. And when out of love loneliness can be frustrating. One then needs to put special effort to get rid of past emotional baggage and decide what one really wants in life to move on.
Why is loneliness such a powerful feeling? Because loneliness once creeps suddenly changes an individual’s perception of everything around. A walk on the beach, walk in the woods, gazing at the star-lit sky no longer seem appealing. Loneliness then becomes a curse and then during those moments of loneliness we realize who we are and then our egos, our weaknesses and all such emotions suddenly start revealing themselves and create an unknown fear in us.
And to avoid our own company we take recourse to music, books, television, internet etc. Do all these means really help in escaping from ourselves? On the contrary they equip us with such knowledge that we create a world for ourselves in which self identity and constant comparison seem the only means of survival. We constantly compare ourselves as being tall, short, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, beautiful, handsome etc and our whole life revolves in our struggle to become what we are not. A mediocre aims to be an intelligent person; a poor guy looks for means to amass wealth.
But when we are alone, we do not have anyone to compare ourselves with as there are no standards to judge ourselves. Therein lies the real beauty, as there are no masks, no make ups. We have nothing to hide from ourselves. Each one of us has a beautiful world within ourselves waiting to be explored. But how many of us have the courage to traverse the path of self discovery all alone.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Age of Gods
Reading a mythological story at bedtime yesterday my daughter provided me a query at night, 'What's the age of each God and who is the youngest God' ? I was for a moment speechless. Well the thought never occured to me. I knew for sure that we have certain days when birthdays of Gods are celebrated, but I for sure did not know the age of any God. I answered telling that we human beings started celebrating God's birthdays on certain days and those days are celebrated as festivals.
Her reaction was mixed. She said that she was sad for Gods could never celebrate their birthdays during their lifetime and that they were so unlucky. But she felt very happy for herself. She realized that she is more lucky than the Gods above as she can celebrate her birthday. She also has the freedom to choose her birthday cake, decide the venue of her birthday, decide return gifts etc and she knows her correct age too.
She gave me a goodnight hug and told " Mom, I am so lucky I am not a God and I still have so many birthdays to celebrate' and drifted off to sleep maybe imagining how she would celebrate her remaining birthdays. Next day she woke up and was in a mad rush to get ready to school. I was surprised to see her getting ready before time. When asked she replied that she wants to share with her friends that how happy they all are to have been born as simple people and not as Gods.
How I wished, then listening to her innocent response, does every person born in this universe also feel the same happiness as my daughter in being born just as a normal human being.........
Her reaction was mixed. She said that she was sad for Gods could never celebrate their birthdays during their lifetime and that they were so unlucky. But she felt very happy for herself. She realized that she is more lucky than the Gods above as she can celebrate her birthday. She also has the freedom to choose her birthday cake, decide the venue of her birthday, decide return gifts etc and she knows her correct age too.
She gave me a goodnight hug and told " Mom, I am so lucky I am not a God and I still have so many birthdays to celebrate' and drifted off to sleep maybe imagining how she would celebrate her remaining birthdays. Next day she woke up and was in a mad rush to get ready to school. I was surprised to see her getting ready before time. When asked she replied that she wants to share with her friends that how happy they all are to have been born as simple people and not as Gods.
How I wished, then listening to her innocent response, does every person born in this universe also feel the same happiness as my daughter in being born just as a normal human being.........
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