Friday 30 December 2011

Mumbaikar...Delhiites...

              Now this topic had to come. It was long due. Inspired by the famous 'Mumbaikar,Punekar, Nagpurkar' by P Deshpande and the fact the I am a true Mumbaikar whose born and brought up in the city of Mumbai but my Native is Delhi, I feel myself in a good position to write this. Also I just love talking on this topic. Something tells me I can write a book on this topic, so beware, this might be a lengthy blog.

            Before I start talking, Let me clear some facts. The blog is dedicated to the people of the 2 places and I will not talk or consider anything about politics or infrastructure of the 2 cities. Also when I mean Mumbaikar, I mean WE , the north Indians, South Indians, Gujaratis and Marathis and others who have stayed in this city for long enough to be domiciled as Maharashtrians (There is a difference between a Maharashtrian and a Marathi). Not the Raj Thackeray types but the true Mumbaikars who make the city of Mumbai and same logic applies to Delhiites.

             A person who stays in Mumbai and travels Delhi every year and has all his relatives from that place, I find HUGE differences among the 2 places. Mumbaikars are always busy.No matter what time of the day, what day of the year we are just always busy. On the other hand Delhiites are always free. They always have time for everything in the world. The most recent example was Anna's agitation where there was a low turnout in Mumbai.We are always in a hurry to either catch some train or do something. They are never in a hurry even if it means visiting someone on a deathbed. Ask a Mumbaikar , 'Whats the time?' and 8 out of 10 times he will get irritated that you have wasted his few minutes asking the question. On the other hand, ask a Delhiite for an address, and chances are he will accompany you to the place.The best part is even when they do not know the address, they will tell you something like this ' Yahan se teesra right le lo..Aage ek mandir hai, wahan pooch lena' ( Take the third right and you would find a temple. Ask the person there he can help). They would hardly say I don't know, on the other hand a Mumbaikar might say I don't know even if he knows. Both extremes.

               Time again is Money for Mumbaikars. We catch the same 8:42 AM train daily for years of our life. Then the connecting bus and reach office on time at 9:30. No one bothers wasting time. To the extent that a BEST (Bombay transport bus) Conductor threatens you with the fact that he will stop the bus if you have a verbal argument with him. He knows for sure all the other passengers will support him since they do not want to waste time by getting the bus stopped. Delhi on the other hand is the other extreme. I was travelling in a bus when he took the bus to the petrol station and declared that it will take 20 mins to fill gas. And I was surprised that all got down with no complaints and no hurry.I mean if it was Mumbai, we might have burned the bus for wasting 20 minutes.Speaking of Time,I recently had the luxury to attend a birthday party in Delhi and was invited at 7.00 PM. No one came before 9 PM. Mumbai on the other hand, the party hall is booked till 10 PM for a 7 PM party, so people come at 8 and leave by 9.

             Then again there is the attitude factor. Every Delhiite feels he owns the state. He will talk big and would always be pompous. The 'I can do this' and 'I can do that' types.Far far away from reality.I asked one of my friend here that why do they do that and he explained that it is a cycle. Today you are being a pompous person and people are listening, tomorrow it's his turn to be one and you will listen. Its mutual understanding.The same goes for salaries or earnings. Ask a Mumbaikar his salary and either he refuses to reveal it or will give a low approximate. Ask a Delhiite about it and he will add one zero on the right of the figure and mention it. I mean whom are you kidding man, We belong to the same industry we know the facts.My dad taught me this, that when you talk about finances with a Delhiite, subtract a zero from the right to get the true figure.

               That leads me to something that even Delhiites agree is a problem with them. Its something we call as 'Show-off'. A Mumbaikar would travel in a local train with a plastic bag that might have crores in it. A Delhiite earning in thousands might feel its below his dignity to travel in anything less than Honda City. He may not have the money to buy petrol but having a car is must. And this may not sync but I suddenly remembered that the word QUEUE does not exist in the dictionary of Delhiites. They get surprised to come to Mumbai and see Queues for everything. For a Delhiite, standing in a Queue is for losers.

               I can go On n ON on this Topic. Speak about both and I have hundreds of examples to give. But than I cannot give them all cause I feel I will publish a book on it. :-) So let me keep some for the book. I guess a good debate in the comments section should be expected. Provided Mumbaikars get the time to defend them and Delhiites feel the need to defend themselves to a software guy with no car (Bekaar).

Cheers!

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Recent Bollywood movies and us

               I know the blog has been dead from the last 3 months or so. Blame it on the writers block or blame it on my laziness. Also the fact that I visited my country India and spent some quality time with my family kept me away from blogging. I do wish to write on my experiences on going back to India and the city of Mumbai but that would need serious thoughts and the perfect writing mood. Nevertheless I decided let me start by writing on some less serious topic and that is when I decided to write the reviews on Bollywood movies.

               If you know me, I have always been a big Bollywood fan. I would always defend SRK doing stunts in Main Hoo na by stating that if you can enjoy them in Matrix , you should enjoy it here too. Also the classics that Amir Khan throws at us makes me admire him the most. But these days after watching a few movies that grossed the maximum amounts I was shocked. Yes I am talking about movies like Bodyguard or Dabangg or Ready.

              Lets for starters talk about the movie Bodyguard. It was the most pathetic display of Direction. A classic example of how not to make a movie. From the start till end the movie never raised and kept making new lows. The character 'Tsunami Singh' was irritating and hardly funny. In the first scene he sits on a women's lap and the women reacts by silly comic dialogues to insult him. Highly unrealistic. In the entire movie Salman hits every person and it made me think of Superman with his undies inside and topless. There has been no definite end to small stories running in the movie. Same could be said about 'Ready'. The attempt to comedy was too lame.

             Still the fact that this movie became one of the biggest grosser in the year makes me think what kind of audience are we turning out to be. Is it that the inner turmoil that the common man faces combined with his inability to change anything makes him come forward and enjoy the movies which are a one man show. Where one man does it all. Be it Bodygurad or Singham or Dabaang. Is it that the common man sees himself in that position and enjoys it. Or is a serious lack of great movies like Tare Zameen Par or RDB which makes us use our brains and heart.

             The most recent movie that touched my heart was 'Chillar Party'. A classic movie of a few kids fighting for what they feel is right. Irony is that such a classic also came form the production house of Salman Khan. Greater irony in the fact that the movie did not get the response from audience that it deserved. Its time the audience turns mature again. They show us what we want to see. Its time we tell them what we want and its definitely not movies like Bodyguard .

Would await responses from you guys.
Cheers!



Monday 22 August 2011

Anna and MMS !! The two SORRY figures of India


Now this might come as a surprise to many. I am talking about the two individuals who these days trend on every Indian newspaper. Anna Hazare, the man who is considered to be leading the anti corruption campaign with the support of the entire youth India (as some may say) and Mr ManMohan Singh the current Prime Minister of one of the largest democracies of the world. Now this might look like a cynical wrath but the truth is both of them are sorry figures in the country. My thoughts on why I feel so.

            Let us start with Anna. A 70 year old man leading the fight in the Gandhian way against the government for the Jan Lokpal Bill. Fasting from the last 7 days to get the draft of the bill, the way he feels is right. The youth of the entire country supporting him and doing non violent protests in the country. But Anna, is it not for a fact that the country is just using your name and your earlier good deeds to get their anger out? The youth that is supporting you is the one to be blamed for corruption and not just the government.
          
           How many of those who support you would be ready to pay a small amount of donation (which I would bring under the definition of corruption) to get a good college seat. It is the same youth who would pay the traffic constable some bribe to save themselves from a traffic ticket. It is the youth who is ready to abuse the system when they go abroad right from faking cell phone robberies to get new cell phones under the insurance scheme and send the old ones to their relatives back in India. It is the same youth that fakes CVs to get jobs, makes dummies give interviews and would not stop from offering a small bribe to get a good job. Corruption is in the roots of the youth. They might come on the road to support you but will not think twice to do any act of corruption which makes their life easy.

            I completely agree with your fight against corruption but the people supporting you makes you look like a sorry figure to me. Your team behind you is also not the ‘saints’ they feel they are and I have spoken about them in the previous blog titled ‘ Anna Hazare: Can we really trust you?’ It was smart of your team to put forward names like Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi after so much of the Bhushans had come to public. And your recent statement that you would be ready to talk to Rahul Gandhi, makes me doubt your credentials. What position of power does he hold in the Indian Democracy legally? I know he is the future PM of India and hence I feel even ManMohan Singh is nothing but a sorry figure

            No matter what people say but as a matter of fact ManMohan’s lack of self respect has put the entire democracy to a shame. It was always stated that he was a rubber stamp PM with Sonia Gandhi holding the remote but with has happened off late has made me wonder why will an individual not show any kind of self respect. We all know its Rahul Gandhi who would be the next PM candidate and you are on the seat only till the time he is ready, but in that process you have lost a lot. You have nothing to gain by taking the entire blame and shame that the Congress deserves. You do not have a dynasty to follow nor will you be treated with respect once you leave the post.The fact that people like Anna are also now ready to talk to him is a matter of shame for democracy. Reading a letter in the Parliament when opposition rips you apart will not do any good to your image.

            The Congress has played its part. There is a brilliant mastermind behind all this. The common man may not realize this. The common man is happy know there is one Anna they can follow and one MMS they can abuse. But being a true ‘Sardar’ it is time you stand for yourself. Stop people from treating you this way. Stop Congress using you to an extent where people might forget that you were one of the great economist my country ever had.
           
            There is a mind behind all this. Nothing happens from the heart. Gone are the days when the heart ruled the head. But it is time you both use your head and heart and see what you guys have to gain or lose. May be there is a lot to lose than you can imagine. Cause no matter what people say in the times ruled by money, I still feel everything but self respect can be gained again.

Cheers!!

Thursday 14 July 2011

Hey Pak, We SHOULD NOT and we WILL NOT Attack you!!

   
As a proud Mumbaikar I go through this turmoil more often than others. Mumbai is a city that is attacked the most number of times by terrorists. Every alternate year there is either a terrorist shooting or a bomb blast. We lose lives but we still get up. Some might say it’s cowardly, some say it’s the spirit. I agree. It’s actually both. This is something common between me and my city. We both have the spirit that says, 'You can push me down but you cannot keep me there' and we both are coward at times because we weigh in the options and needs before action.

            Now let’s come on the topic. So every time there is an attack on Mumbai, the youth comes into action. We get agitated, come out on roads, Post our anger on public networking sites and demand an action on Pakistan who is sponsoring all the terrorism and harboring the terrorists. No doubt that is true. With Laden killed in Pakistan near the Pak Military headquarters, no country will oppose this fact and might not stand in our way if we decide to go on a war with Pakistan and try to remove it from the world map which most of us may want. But there are strong reasons why we should not do that.

            No matter how much we deny it always comes up to money for everything. Most of the political and social decisions in the world are made for financial reasons. And this is one of the reasons why we should not go on a war with Pakistan. Not that we do not have the money to do so but cause we have better things to do with that. Pakistan today is a failed economy and a failed democracy. Its existence will depend on a war with India. Hoping that if we initiate the war some countries might lend them monetary support. They need a war and we so do not. War in itself is a horrible thing for innocent lives and it’s after effect is worse than the actual period. Most European economies could not recover from World War 2 yet and it was this war which gave rise to the current super power in the world.

            Perhaps some may argue that since I am not directly affected by terrorist attack I am saying such things. And I agree. If I would have lost a dear one in such a cowardly terrorist attack, trust me I would have wanted blood. But that is because I am human, a single individual and that is the difference between individuals and a government. The finance ministry knows that war is something that will not boost our economy. Rather it will boost economies like Pakistan, China and US.

            No, I do not want us to just keep quiet and accept what is happening. It definitely is the time to do something. But that something is not war. If we would have used only half the money that we made doing 2G scams or Commonwealth scams and put that money into Intelligence or defense, we could have saved the blasts. And perhaps that would be the right way to go. We need to kill them in the bud and for that our Intelligence has to grow. Ask for Change not for War!!

PS: I am not a very peace loving person but I would prefer not doing something that my enemy really wants me to do.

Please pitch in your thoughts!!

Cheers!!

Friday 17 June 2011

History is just another Mystery

  
I have always wondered on this one wonderful dialogue from one of my favorite movie 'Kungfu Panda' where the old turtle says "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery but today is a gift and so it is called present" . Ok there might be some great guy who would have originally quoted this but I remember it from the movie so please bear with it :-) . The second half of the sentence will be a post on its own but the more I read about history I feel the first part is not really true as I find History also a big mystery in itself.

  I am not a big fan of ancient history but I love the modern history. The history of the last two centuries which included wars and terrorism were my favorite topics to explore. Without exaggerating the figures, I would have read at least 25 books on World War 2 and Hitler and the more I read the more I get convinced that one would never truly know about Hitler or world War 2 and that history is as much a mystery as the future.

  They say History is always written by the person who won the war and that is something common from many centuries. We have always read history written by winners and so we only know their version of the story. Though Historians try to be as neutral as possible but many historians have agreed that what we write is actually our view of what we think happened based on the facts we get.

  One classic example for it is the Second World War or Hitler. Hitler is one of the most influential persons of his century. He is among the few men who created History but so little is known about him though there are more than thousands of books written on him. One of the big reasons was cause he shot himself when the war was about to end. Had he being captured alive, we might have had a better idea of what he thought and did. Elaborating more on the point expressed about the historian's view. Based on all the documents available which are same to all historians still there is so much confusion and speculations to what actually happened. One noted Historian David Irving in his book 'Hitler's war' had claimed that Hitler had no clue about the holocaust and he solely should not be blamed responsible for it. Then there are always books by historians who deny holocaust being ever happened.

 My study on the subject is not so deep that I can state what would have actually happened. Rather since my study is only on books and not on original documents and artifacts, I do not consider myself even worthy to give my opinion on holocaust. But this is an example of how historians have given two entirely opposite views on the same person and events. Also the fact that history is written by winners denies us knowing the complete story. There were many war crimes done by the Allies as well in the Second World War which included crimes by Stalin or crimes by Allied group strategic bombing on the German cities killing millions of innocent lives.But these war crimes were never considered for punishment or accounted for.

 All these facts really make me wonder if we would actually know what happened. The more I read the more I get convinced that this is not the true version. However books like 'Men who created History' are definitely a great source as these are not written but just edited by giving chapters on events. The best part of such books is that it presented both sides of the story for the reader.

 So know with an unknown past and an Unknown future, present remains the only known thing. But if we humans just stay in the present then we become selfish and self centered by not accounting for past mistakes or not considering the future problems. Wow, now thats what I call a classic catch-22 situation.

Cheers!!

Thursday 26 May 2011

Top 10 Bollywood Dialogues of all time!!!

 I would have started watching alot of Hollywood movies these days and I am completely taken over by the way they are made. The war movies or sci-fi movies are something we may not be capapble of, but they always say that a man never forgets his first love and my first love was bollywood. So here in this post I would like to give you the top 10 bollywood dialogues of all time in 2 categories.
The first 5 dialogues are from the powerful category. Dialogues which have attitude , arrogance, determination and a sense of power.
1) 'Gabbar K taap se tumhe ek hi aadmi bacha sakta hai, aur wo hai khud Gabbar'
     This dialogue from the evergreen movie Sholay was among the top five in this category. Amzad khan lived like a legend and the dialogue shows his ferocity.
2) 'Don k dushman ki sabse badi galti yeh hai ki wo Don ka dushman hai'
    Again A bad boy dialogue from the movie Don where Amitabh proves why he was known as the angry young man for years.
3) ' Ae Iqbal, Tune kaha tha na ki apne Ghar main toh kutta bhi sher hota hai. Dekh main tujhe yahan ye batane aaya hoon ki Sher jahan bhi jaata hai na, wohi uska ghar hota hai'
   Not many may know this but this was from the movie Kurukshetera where Sanjay Dutt plays the role of an honest ACP fighting the whole world for what he feels is right. Somehow this dialogue has been my ever favorite and as teenagers was most widely used by me and my bro. :-)
4) ' Jo peechle 25 saal main nahi hua wo ab hoga'
   Who can forget this one from the movie Deewar. The confidence from Amitabh in this dialogue makes it among the top 5.
5) 'Peter, tum log mujhe wahan dhoond rahe the aur main tumhara yahan intezaar kar raha tha'
   Again fomr the movie Deewar delivered by the angry young man. The challenge and confidence makes it among the top 5 in thie category.

Next 5 dialogues are the most romantic dialogues I felt Bollywood has given us. Romance and other emotions together in the next classic 5.

1) 'Mohabbat bhi zindagi ki tarah hoti hai, har mod assan nahi hota, har mod pe khushiyan nahi hoti, lekin jab hum zindagi ka saath nahi chodte toh mohabbat ka kyu? '
   One of the best dialogues from the movie Mohabbatein delivered by SRK. This should be used as a testament and should be asked by every person in the world who is in a relationship to read it daily 5 times during the day. Its a slap in the face to people who have made affairs and relationships just a matter of fun or timepass and keep changinf bf or gf like clothes.
2) 'Tumne us se pyaar karne se pehle ye shart toh nahi rkahi thi ki wo bhi tumse pyaar karegi, Mohabbat main sharteing nahi hoti, toh afsos bhi nahi hona chaiye'
  Again from the same movie...Another classic
3)  'itni shiddat se maine tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki koshish ki hai....kehte hai agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho toh poori kaynath tumhein usse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai...aap sabne mujhe meri chahat se mila diya...thanks, thanks very much, kehte hai ki filmon ki tarah hamari zindagi mein bhi end tak sab theek hee ho jaata hai..happys endings...aur agar theek naa ho toh woh the end nahi, picture abhi baaki hai mere dost...'
    Need I say more about this dialogue again by SRK from the movie Om shaanti Om. Use this for any thing in this world and not just love. The dialogue has determination, romance, hope and all that you can think of..one of my personal favorites.
4) ' Suri tani ko hasane k liye raj ban sakta hai, dance kar sakta hai..lekin pyaar toh tani ko suri se hi karna hoga, wo jaisa hai, waisa hi '
  This is my favourite. From the movie Rab ne Bana di jodi where he explaind that though a guy can do all sort of thins to please the girl what he really expects the girl is to love him and accept him the way he is. He may be boring, may not be a race car car driver or adventurous type, may be he is a simple mature person but find the good in him and love him for that. Dont try to change people. Accept them and love them
5)

I would keep the 5th one vacant and would like you all to post in your personal fav and I would enter the best one :-)
Also please do not mind if the dialogues are not word to word perfect. These are from my memory and I did not refer or watch the movie again to check the coreect word to word dialogue.

Cheers!!

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Your View or Mine??

           I love watching 'The Big Bang Theory'. Specially Sheldon who has an opinion about everything and would never feel or accept that he is wrong. His behavior creates comedy that people enjoy so much but these days I have come across people who behave the same and in real life, It is more of a frustration than Comedy. Perhaps Sheldon can do it as he has an IQ of above 180 and has achieved alot in his young age, plus its reel life. The same when done in real life by people as ordinary as you and me irritates.

           I am one of those fools who do like to give their opinions to people if I have one. I am not blessed with the kind of people who have the patience and the maturity to say "Jane de" (Forget it man!!) whenever they come across a nerd who is not open to opinions. I always felt that perhaps I need to make the other person aware that there is a different view to the same thing and It has led me to many arguments with people.

            It is good to be firm of your beliefs but when it comes to a point where your mind somehow gets closed to all other opinions that do not match yours is certainly not a good point to reach. We forget that modesty is a great virtue. Alot was achieved even before we were born and alot may be achieved by others who will be born later. Keeping our minds closed to others is like the frog who stays in the well. He may be the king of the well but outside there is a whole different world to be faced.

            Recently I had a discussion with someone who was not ready to accept the fact that no single person or thing can be blamed for a vicious circle of society. The argument led to a point where he started stating that if you do not have solutions ,you should not speak of problems. Perhaps he wanted to curb our fundamental right of speech. It later ended when I quit arguing. They taught me in school that one should never argue with a fool as people watching may not know the difference. Somehow I always forget that. Also one of the disadvantages of arguing with people who do not have an open mind is that they get personal which then becomes unhealthy argument.

           However this seems to be the biggest concern I have today about people. Why are we not ready to accept opinions that do not match ours. Why cannot we have an open mind which might learn alot when we hear others talking. I have always felt that when I listen to people who do not match my opinions, It always teaches me something. I being a big Congress hater always blamed Gandhi and Congress for partition. However in a recent argument with my roomie, he spoke that India was already divided by British and so these guys are not to be blamed. With his one sentence I realised how I was not thinking of events prior to 1920s and It opened my mind. I learnt alot. I always felt that if you argue with an open mind and try keeping your personal beliefs aside, they will be a good learning event.

            Perhaps it is time I need to decide that either I quit giving opinions and let people just believe in what they do by touching one part of the Elephant or I decide that lets play dirty. Perhaps maturity teaches you to do the former and youth do the latter. This seems to be a quaterlife crisis question now.. lol


Cheers!!

Saturday 7 May 2011

Facebook vs Blogging

        Recently I read one of my friend’s blog which mentioned how a blog can be used to know a person more. As blogging is something that is done to express your thoughts about topics you may or may not discuss with others. That was quite a nice way to look at it. And that provoked my mind to compare these two. The all time favourite Facebook versus blogging.
    
        I agree that these 2 sites or features may be different but there are plenty of similarities too. Both are used to communicate on a social level and both can be used to express your ideas and you moments of life across to the general society. And still the level of these 2 are so different. I can vaguely compare it to our telecom revolution. Blogging is like Vodafone few years back when they charged incoming calls too whereas facebook was like Reliance, Everybody had one irrespective of one's needs and status. Similarly everyone these days have a facebook profile, even people I know who cannot pronounce the word computer correctly and may not know anything about it except switching it on and using Facebook.
 
     The biggest difference I saw between them was truth. A Facebook profile is mostly used to display to the world about all the good things of your life and it’s all about how 'cool' your life is. It is a bunch of lies with public display of affection to showcase to the world. Heights were reached when I see a few people having a romantic conversation with their loved ones on Facebook and wishing their parents happy anniversary on Facebook. In the need to be showcased as something you are not, people have broken the social laws that at one time dominated in our culture. And it looks like the need of the hour. It has gone to the extent that prominent psychologists believe that many of us are suffering from what they call 'facebook envy syndrome'
  
    Blogging on the other hand is a display of your thoughts and emotions that are true to yourself. It is about spreading the ideas you want to share. There is no need to have your best pic on display or list out all your tiny achievements of life. It requires some serious thought process to blog. I would so agree that to really know a person check out the blogs of that person rather than a social networking profile.

    I am not a person who hates social networking sites. As a human I also feel the need to showcase the world that what a 'cool' guy I am (I can also fake it if you think I am not like others fake it..lol) . It definitely also has a few advantages like it reminds you of birthdays. Cause it hurts me that every year I forget to wish my oldest chuddy buddy Parashar on his birthday. I am very bad with dates and he knows that and still he believes in all the excuses I give him to be late.( sorry dost..love you).

   One of the other similarity is like facebook blogging can also help you keep in touch with your friends. The only thing is most people do not realize that like being a friend on facebook has no major implications similarly being a follower on blogs is also just to keep in touch and know when they post their thoughts. People however take the word 'follow' too seriously. they would avoid that though you would never avoid adding someone as a friend. Anyway, thats people, I am drifting from the topic :-)

  With both being compared in my mind I have no doubts to agree that I would always give more importance to someone's blogs to know the real person. And knowing the real person in the world where we fake so much would definitely be more worthy.

Cheers!!