Chak De India!!!!

Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.

This might be the umpteenth time we are encountering the historic and hair-raising speech by Pundit Nehru on the eve of India's Independence Day.The day when the union jack was lowered and the Indian tricolour flourished in full mast heralding the rise of new nation In-di-a.It was a momentous occasion despite the fact that it was a costly deal.The division of India and Pakistan still haunts us ,still bleeds millions of hearts who were rendered homeless by just one flick of pen.But that is past , we have come a long way.We have seen it all from the mobocracy and chaos of the infant India to the Indo-China war in its youth,Emergency during its matured years,Babri-masjid demolition and the consequent Mumbai blasts in its forties.India is now in the advanced years of its senility.This year we are all set to celebrate its 60th birthday.But there is still a nagging question that has been bothering us for long.Have we grown enough??

India is in the verge of being a super-power and it wont be long it will soon be flexing its muscle to escalate into the big league.However the growth has all been in the economic realm.As a nation we haven't progressed much.Communal ism,castesm , nepotism,social inequality,separatism is still at large.To add to our woes the threat of terrorism also looms large.Our "Unity in Diversity" paradigm lies in tatters.Corruption and adultery has severed our social fabric.All these repelling force is jeopardizing our Great Indian Dream.All we have manage to do in these years is to make the rich richer and the poor to languish.India might pride himself of having largest no. of millioners but it does not allay the malice of poverty.
The time is ripe when we truly redeem ourselves and as Panditji has aptly put in words not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.Its time to stand up and be counted.Its time to say 'All hands on the deck'.Freedom and power bring responsibility.Our forefathers have earned the freedom with tears,pain,blood and sacrifice.We have a daunting task in our hands i.e to wipe every tear from every eye.To quote from 'Tryst with Destiny'

We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard.

Indeed.Its turn to wake up from the slumber revitalized,full of zeal and with the bold intent to work.The future beckons us.Our endeavour and toil shall decide what we want of our motherland.Its time to refrain Chak De India for its time when we have a tryst with destiny ...again.



kuch kariye
kuch kariye
nuss nuss meri khaule…
hoye kuch kariye
kuch kariye
kuch kariye
buss buss bada bole…
ab kuch kariye
ho…
koi to chal zidd fariye
doobe, kariye ya mariye
haye..
koi to chal zadd fariye
doobe, kariye ya mariye
chak de…
ho chak de India
chak de…
ho chak de India

The Last of Harry

Chloe and Sydney Bostian , the two sisters are engaged in a unique mission- precisely a 11 day mission to acquire something the world has gone berserk.Its a saga of of a teenager boy.The sisters have installed a tent outside the bookstore and visited by their parents often and their friends supply their food.If u have not guessed it by now then u are perhaps one of those unfortunate Muggles who are oblivious of an alternate world- a world infested by wizards, witches, animagus and a dark villain.Confused!! Read on

The Boy who lived

What can one say about a 18 year old boy who shall die? Well, this is not a corrupted version of Love Story by Eric Segal but a tale of Harry Potter the boy-wonder who has interwoven into our live and became a part of our living for over a decade.Originally started as a bed-time story, conceived at a cafe by J.k Rowling ,a widow then, Harry has grown of age over years so is his popularity by leaps and bounds.No other fictional character till date have received fame and affection of masses to this magnitude as Harry has enjoyed.No one has captured our imagination,our heart and soul the way this teenager boy has.
In a world divided over race , cast and language; where a deep chasm exists between the have and have-nots, the world that J K Rowling has spun for us resides in our fantasies.This is world where two kind of people exists Wizards and Witches- those who are in possession of Magical powers and the Muggles- their hapless counterparts sans any powers and knowledge of the existance of the former beings.Unlike LOTR where the wizards are shown to have flowing beard, towering figure and are invariably very old, wizard and witches in Harry's world love watching sports ( namely Quiddich ), they too fall in love, bunk classes,get those adolescent pangs and have fights over trifle issues- well in short like us only!!This is where J K Rowling scores over others.She has built an alternate realm which we can identify easily.Wizard here go to school for honing their magic skills, they too have to submit homework regularly and they too have biased cronies as teachers.The subject they study is strikingly similar to that we do in our Muggle classrooms. Transfiguration is synonymous with physics which is all about manipulating the nature of the matter,potion classes is similar to our chemistry and herbology is invariably same as our biology lessons.They too have the boring history lessons ( guess what they are taught by ghosts!!) and more often than not the pupil doze off during classes.
Basically what Rowling has successfully done is to empower us i.e she has led us to believe that this world really exists somewhere and we can simulate ourselves in the place of Harry or his friends like Ron and Hermione,Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledor and even the Lord Voldemort.It may be Harius Potter to a boy in Scotland or Hari da Putter in our very own Punjab.
Harry Potter is after all about victory of good over the evil.All her books carries the the same refrain that its us who chooses who we become.However how bad be the adversary we always have hope.Its us who shall make choices and choices make us who we are.
At the stroke of midnight when the clock will strike 12the half of the world shall remain awake for the last of the franchise of Harry Potter series.So many question remains to be answered.Will Harry Die? What is exactly deathly Hallows?Will Voldemort be defeated at last?One last shot .We wait with our bated breadth to see the end of the greatest epic of our time.

WAH TAJ! - Through The Looking Glass

“not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passions of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones.”
- English poet Edwin Arnold

So finally Taj made it!! On a fateful day of 7th july 2007 when India was in slumber, in a star studded event In Lisbon, Portugal Taj Mahal was declared as one of the Seven Wonders of World to the glee of 100 billion Indians.Approximately 10 crore votes alone came from India.I had written one post named Huzoor WAH TAJ! Boliye in our Wall Mag.
We had quite a bit of lively discussion as to whether Taj needs this wild publicity.I like to cite a quite interesting bit of comment from my fellow blogger and my mentor Shayon.

You know, I don't feel it's about recognition, it's more about the prestige of being officially recognized. Think of it on these lines. Everyone in your class knows that you're a whiz in maths. But nothing beats the exhilaration of being felicitated by your school's principal on annual day, for the same. Everyone knows the contribution of Raj Kapoor to Hindi Cinema, then why does he still receive life time achievement awards on every other felicitation ceremony?


Hmm..I thouht that was quite a cheesy thought!! In his words had been the Taj in the list of seven Wonders then it would have been universally recognized and people from all nook and corner of the globe namely "either a farmer in Brazil or a construction worker in Luxemburg or prolly some mathematician from St Petersburg." would have been aware of the Marvel of Marble.

Then in a quite bizarrely turn of events all our focus shifted to mobile operators and their SMS rates.So after a hearty discussion we came to naught, back to square one. Then today I chanced upon the post by Sakshi called And the Taj says "Thank you". It said something like this.......

"The Final list is out, and Taj has made it to the Seven Wonders of the world. I am sure if it were allowed a thank you speech, the monument of love would have said - That finally, people showed their love to me. Thank you India....!!!"

Well, that prompted me to scribble this post. I know it might be a overcooked topic right now..but I can't help putting my thoughts in place.



"The embodiment of all things pure, all things holy and all things unhappy."
-Rudyard Kipling

Well, now that the Taj has been placed in the list of seven wonders we being Indians have every reason to be happy. All this euphoria around Taj was created by countless ads and fervent campaigning media.Surely did it captured our imagination but for a very weak cause i.e for getting it included in the Seven Wonders List. Well, readers might be frowning at this but let me clarify that I am not against Taj being made one of the Seven Wonders because after all this is no mean feat!!But what pisses me off the way media projects it - all this brouhaha and hype.All of a sudden we see scores of music videos and ads bearing the "Vote for TAj" pleas.All we are concerned about is the recognition of Taj and we turn a blind eye to the maladies surrounding TAj.Yes! Taj is dying! Drastic climatic changes and increasing level of pollution in the atmosphere have slowly degrading this beauty and it wont be long we shall see a very dull looking Taj.How many times have we ever concerned ourselves with this sad-state-of affairs?? How many have we seen or heard "Save Taj" poll in this decade?Aren't we responsible for preserving our national monument ,our national pride?All we look for is glitz and glory.Being one of the wonders in the world is fine but that shouldn't turn out to be a lifetime achievement award for Taj.As a responsible citizen we should not only bask in the glory of out national treasure but also ensure we don't turn a blind eye to this ravishing beauty.Our future generation deserves beholding TAj with all its luster and grandeur.Well,I guess right now the Taj might be saying -" Thank for all the love and support u have given me but please have concern for my declining health."

You know Shah Jahan, life and youth, wealth and glory, they all drift away in the flow of time. You strove therefore, to perpetuate only the sorrow of your heart…Let the splendour of diamond, pearl and ruby vanish…Only let this one teardrop, this Taj Mahal, glisten spotlessly bright on the cheek of time, forever and ever."
– Rabindranath Tagore

Etymological Dysfunction

Everyone abhors epithets.It is sometimes uncalled upon if u are an important person.It often turns out to be a cliche.But I love this idea of epithets being bestowed to sumone or sumthing. " The Wall" we say in reverance when we are actually applauding the diligence and the dogged determination of Rahul Dravid."King of Pop" a title lovingly bestowed on MJ by his fans, "Material girl" an idiom connected with Madonna. " Deep Blue" , the lebel is as popular as the original mammoth of a company i.e IBM.By and large these title are lovingly conferred by the well-wishers and the ardent fans as a mark of their undying love and loyalty.But there are isolated cases when there labels become a bane for the recipients." Best Batsman Ever Walked on Earth" try reminding our beloved Tendulkar about his once held tiltle and he wont be too pleased. The expectation and the trust of billions of cricket-crazy fans-it weighs upon him. He will be more than pleased to foresake his tiltle to someone else nowadays as he realizes that he has reached the twilight of his career and he can never be the same Tendulkar again.But still we the people ,the sycophant and star-gazers lot never fall behind in lebelling or as a matter of fact 'branding'. Here's a few pearl that I have picked up which has constantly been in news.




BCCI: Unlike the common notion that the billion and billions of blistering barnacles @#&! oops!! ....sorry billions and billions of fans nurture that this acronym stands for an institution of its own kind- an autonomous , fair and a council of the finest cricketing brains in the country, well a news for U! It stands for Board of Complete Chaos of India or probably Bunch Of Complete Cronies of India!!Take ur pick!
Of late BCCI has shown that despite being the richest of all clubs in the world it has the most irresponsible, unjust and inefficient men at the helm. BCCI can never claim that that way of their governing was smooth and undisputed but the recent Ford-Fiasco has bolstered the claim that it needs a complete remake and probably young hot-footers having the reins.Sharad Powar and Co has proved beyond doubt that they have failed miserably in their tall-claims of taking Indian Cricket to new heights. In fact Indian Cricket had finally hit the floor of a bottomless pit.The debacle in the World Cup and the aftermath of that , the Great Indian Comedy-the comedy of a situation that was made in the selection of the new Indian Coach has left the protagonists of the game red-faced.As an eternal optimist we hope that after storm comes calm weather, we see light at the end of the tunnel.Our only wish the light does not turn out to be that of an incoming train!!!!


The B.O.S.S : Reading this some might jump the gun that the word boss is a cliche and overused to the extent that the very sound of it repels us. Nope I am not referring to the great Bruce Springsteen or the foul-mouthed and bad-smelling creature, whose habitat include mostly unkempt and dungeon-like hideout called office and glitzy bars,it's food habit includes mostly junk food and umpteen shot of black-coffee,perceived largely as a sexual predator it's mating season has no specific time-line,it usually savors for young female mostly new-kids-on-the-block: the unsuspecting,gullible and ambitious damsels who wants to make it big.Well, I am referring to none of them. I am merely being paying my homage to the lagrer-than-life Superstar Rajni.With his faithful legion of fans and their fan club spanning various countries, one cannot simply deny the fact which stares in our face that Rajni may be the greatest of all living Mega stars of Indian Film scape .He commands a fee that is four to five times what our top heroes in Bollywood charge.With his staccato-style of dialog delivery and eccentric mannerism, he is hailed as a demi-god to his umpteen fans. Shivaji his latest flick( happens to be the costliest of all Indian cinema,whose approxbudget was a whopping 80 crores!!) has given rise a mass hysteria cutting across the southern borders to Mumbai where the advance booking for two weeks was full!!!! Imagine this for a Bollywood film!! I am afraid there are none.Jhoom Barabar Jhoom was released on the same date as Shivaji and it has gone cold almost in almost three days but Shivaji is still going strong in Mumbai theaters And we thot BigB was the undisputed emperor of Indian Cinema!!!!
Oh! by the way I almost forgot B.O.S.S stands for Bachelor of Social Service.Nope it is not a new-fangled course in DU, it is the title supposedly bestowed to Rajni a.k.a his namesake Shivaji.


Madam President: The Throne to RaisinaHill was always disputed and 2007 was no exception! The UPA send a shock wave through the nation by nominating Pratibha Patil ,a low key Congress candidate for the top spot.This led to the unprecedented-a women Prez first time ever after India became sovereign .If we revert back to history for reference then we shall see Razia Sultana was the last women to rule India. Some frowned, some scowled but majority gave a thumbs up for the decision.This situation gave rise to an unique dilemma, the re-christening of the post.Should it be called Rashtrapati or Rashtrapatni? Academics are still in a haze to this unique situation.





Monsoon Wading: "Rain falling down/Right from the clouds/I don't know why/I am feeling fine".
Well,It sounded very enticing when the the entire North India was reeling in the heat.Remember the scene in the film Lagaan when the perched villagers were expectantly looking at every flock of cloud hoping for showers.Well it was not too long the reel life was emulated in real life.But after the Monsoon broke in it brought with it another bane, water clogging. It is quite a routine seeing the cities immersed in knee-deep water and people wading thu them, obviously a result of archaic drainage system. so much for the rain !!

Rain, Rain Go away/
Come again some other day/
We want to go outside and play/
Come again some other day/
Rain,Rain Go away!

Looking Back

Well, iI am feeling an alltime low now coz my beloved blogpage on whose account I have wasted so many of my precious hours i s going nowhere! Comments have ceased to pour in and bloghits have touched an alltime low.Well,I guess I haven't been writing good and substantioal posts of late. Alll my previous posts after I scrutinized them throughly, I find are low in content and have little knowlwdge value. All of them revolves around fun and entertainment. Not surprisingly I tagged them as craps!!

Well,its time to revive my blogpage.Viewers like Rathz , Sakshi, Shayon who have been very kind and flattering and have kindly extended their goodwill in writing comments over my posts, I thank u all for bearing my craps and goof-ups.Special than to Arushi to always have a gud thing to write on my blog. Thanx a tonne to u.You are a sweetheart!

So stay put guyz.Next time u shall c an improved version of my blogpage. Lets say karma-through-the-looking-glass. v2.0.

Tintin-Through the lookin glass...

When Gerorge Remi a.k.a Herge created this snub-nosed crime reporter, with his trademark hairdo, about 80 years ago, little did he cud realize the immense popularity of this pint-sized hero shall remain unabated till date.Born in 1929 as a comic strip hero . Tintin has grown in volume and fame ever since ,cutting across nations and language barriers and stood out as a cult figure in all European countries as well as India.Though embroiled in controversies over the depiction of non-European people in unjust ways as a result Herge being called in derogatory terms as racist.His take on Russia in his foremost comic was widely criticized.All his books had some clandestine agenda which seemingly depicting fictional country actually had strains of the ongoing conflicts among various European countries.
Despite all these Tintin is a phenomenon.After Peter Jackson and Stephen Spielberg has shown a keen interest in putting Tintin on screen,there has been an upsurge.Age is no barrier to this young ,fearless reporter from Belgium, people of all age group still enjoy reading his wacky adventures.His long list of fans include the Legendary Charles De Gaulle (who in a election rally said to the teeming masses that his popularity is just a shadow of what Tintin enjoys in France) and our very own Satyajit Roy who seldom marveled at the eye for detail in Tintin comics.
Like the umpteen masses who are at love with this guy-wonder, I am also a fervent follower of Tintin since the day of three.
So hereby on the Birth Centenary of the creator Herge I allow my imagination to run unbound.So what if Tintin was born in India and our filmmakers decided to make a film on him!! Well quite an challenging proposition coz to fit in the characters of one need s plenty of imagination and intent. I have listed some of 'em. u ppl help me out on others.

Tintin

Well,for playing the character of Tintin ,one should have the plunk of a reporter as well his boyish charms. To be frank none actually fitted the bill. In Hollywood we have plenty of green horns who would gleefully grab this role of a life time but in our very own Bollywood that wud spell danger specially when this film will have so much hype going around.we, the film mongers are basically star-gazers so we have to look to the tried and tested.Inevitably the first choice that comes is the legion of Khan's.Salman khan is a obvious reject coz his height doesn't match.King Khan we can easily ignore coz it will be hope against hope asking him do away with his stereotype hairdo.Amir Khan- yes he certainly fits the bill perfectly.With his ever growing appetite of reinventing himself,he is bound to accept the role and time and again he has proved he can sport different hairdos with out hesitation. maybe we shall see a different side of Amir's personality when he sports the Mohawk stlye thet the guy reporter has made do popular.

Professor Calculus

For this feisty and maverick geek I cud find none suitable than the brilliant and the understated Naseeruddin Shah. After doing so many roles of wide variety , I guess Naseer-bhai wud not reject this role. In Krishh he had played a wicked Doc , I am pretty sure will do the good 'ol prof quite brilliantly as he always does!! He need a bit of makeover which i guess can be easily managed.

Captain Haddock

Billions and billions of blistering barnacles!! Seamonger!!Ungulates!!Misguided Missile!!Diplodocus!!
Well,I don't have to say more as it is quite evident from the curses that I am talking about the fav 'ol captain. To me he is one character who has rendered the comic edge of Tintin series almost single handedly.Quite adept in involving himself in tight situations and always have a word or two to say. A connoisseur of whiskey and an seasoned sailor, he is one of the memorable characters in Tintin series.To enact means the person sud have his panache and his eloquence and who better than our motormouth Siddhu-bhai to don this role.Well, Siddhu bhai for the sake of the film you have to don the sailors hat for a while. Just be yourself and soon we cud see the desi version of Haddock blurting out " Statistics are like miniskirts. What they reveal is suggestive and what they hide is essential!!"

Thomson and Thompson

Well,let be reveal a secret. Despite their striking resemblance Thomson and Thompson are not twin brothers!! They are just different people who are in a an illusion that they are brothers.It is quite evident from their surnames.Anyway I had a hard time trying to find the ideal cast for them until i chanced upon the Roshan Brothers. Don't u think they have amazing resemblance? Rajesh has no acting experience as his elder bro has, well, then again you don't need too much acting acumen when u are acting as the Thompson and Thomson ...u require to be grumpy and able to handle the bowler hats.

Nestor

Well, this was a difficult choice.Nestor the loyal butler is one of my fav characters.His undying trust in his master has stood him in good stead.Formerly a butler of the Bird Boys who were behind the kidnapping of Tintin to find out about the missing scrolls which cud lead them to the treasure of the Red Rackham. He became the butler of Tintin and Captain Haddock after they claimed the Marlinspike residence from the Bird Bros.
well, I guess Anupam Kher just suits fine.He has the acting prowess and also the right look.The picks are there for comparison.

Really weird

Thank you for Fucking, Austria

Well, before u readers frown at the inappropriate topic which u may think u stumbled upon and may be tempted to close this post..... Just hold a sec!!
Fucking is a small settlement (population c. 150) in Austria. The village is known to have existed as "Fucking" since at least 1070. The settlement's most famous feature is a traffic sign with its name on it beside which English-speaking tourists often stop to have their photograph taken. The sign is the most commonly stolen street sign in Austria. Significant amounts of public funds are spent on replacing the stolen signs !!!


Erving's Location. Population: 1

Erving's Location is situated in Coos County, New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, locations, grants, townships (which are different from towns), and purchases are unincorporated portions of a county which are not part of any town and have limited self-government (if any, as many are uninhabited). According to the 2000 census, one person lived in Erving's Location. Some have speculated that the census statistics for Erving's Location could have been a computer glitch.

Welcome to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch


Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a village on the island of Anglesey in Wales. It is best known for having the longest officially recognised place name in the United Kingdom, and one of the longest in the world.

The village's long name was contrived in the 1860s for the prestige of having the longest name of a railway station in Great Britain, and could not be considered an authentic word in the Welsh language. A translation into English would yield "St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave".