Just a passing thought! I have been reading on TV and newspapers in the past couple of days on how India put up a claim on Mahatma Gandhi's items, that James Otis, a collector from USA, currently holds. The New Delhi, high court even has passed a stay against the auctioning of the items, but the auction still goes on!
I find it extremely ironical on two fronts
- That the politicians who have succesfully limited the Mahatma as a wall hanging in the corridors and as statues in chowks and before the assembly halls, are now demanding for the posessions.
- That Gandhiji all his life wanted detachment (non-attachment to wordly posessions). India which claims to be following Gandhi-ism, now wants those posessions.
- James Otis, claims to give up the posession of the items if India promises to uplift the GDP of the poorest of the poor by 5% (or to 5%, I fail to recollect the exact representation). What ever the representation, I find it very ironical, that a man who may be doing this for money (un-Gandhi way) wants to blackmail a nation, on an account which can't be measured!
I am sure Mahatmaji, whereever you are, you have smirk across your face, looking at all these (including my writing!)
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Tuesday 3 March 2009
Yeppudu Oppukovaddura Otami! Never Accept Defeat
Hi friends,
I recently came across a wonderful song recited and written by a famous Telugu (a language from Southern India, called Latin of the East!) literary genious, who pens lyrics in the Telugu film industry! (that is how I would put it with my meek vocabulary!)
Watch this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1-_h2iNcOw
For those people who don't understand Telugu, I tried to translate this into English in hope that during these tough "economic times" you could draw some inspiration!
Never accept defeat, Never give up patience
Never never restDon't forget your aimOnly then is your success a certainty!
The sky may be pretty vast and high, but is less mightier than the wing of a flying birdThe ocean may be mighty, but smaller than the the fin of a swimming fish
The "demon" dusk of the west that swallows the sun everyday never winsThe sun goes down the throat of the dusk goes across the oceans and rises again in the east, every day!
How long is the escape from the light, who can stop the sun riseEven the agitated heart is like the burning sun!
Never accept defeat, Never give up patience
Is there a second in life when there is no pain, birth or death, every step of life
If you stop being tired, time will pass through your fingers! Life is a continuous struggle!
Your body, heart, blood, flesh and capability, is there a better army than this!
Hope will be your weapon, breath will be your weapon, and your desire will be your navigator
If you Keep trying, won't disappointment even be disappointed?
As long as you are breathing, even death can't win and death can claim victory only over your lifeless corpse
Never accept defeat, Never give up patience
I recently came across a wonderful song recited and written by a famous Telugu (a language from Southern India, called Latin of the East!) literary genious, who pens lyrics in the Telugu film industry! (that is how I would put it with my meek vocabulary!)
Watch this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1-_h2iNcOw
For those people who don't understand Telugu, I tried to translate this into English in hope that during these tough "economic times" you could draw some inspiration!
Never accept defeat, Never give up patience
Never never restDon't forget your aimOnly then is your success a certainty!
The sky may be pretty vast and high, but is less mightier than the wing of a flying birdThe ocean may be mighty, but smaller than the the fin of a swimming fish
The "demon" dusk of the west that swallows the sun everyday never winsThe sun goes down the throat of the dusk goes across the oceans and rises again in the east, every day!
How long is the escape from the light, who can stop the sun riseEven the agitated heart is like the burning sun!
Never accept defeat, Never give up patience
Is there a second in life when there is no pain, birth or death, every step of life
If you stop being tired, time will pass through your fingers! Life is a continuous struggle!
Your body, heart, blood, flesh and capability, is there a better army than this!
Hope will be your weapon, breath will be your weapon, and your desire will be your navigator
If you Keep trying, won't disappointment even be disappointed?
As long as you are breathing, even death can't win and death can claim victory only over your lifeless corpse
Never accept defeat, Never give up patience
Monday 2 March 2009
Much Ado about "Slumdog"
Okay! I am fed up! As I promised myself at the top of this year, I am going to write!
Over the past few days, I have read so many articles, watched so many TV shows, and found it has become a sort of a fashion bandwagaon, to talk negatively about "slumdog millionaire". ITs like 'behti huee ganga mein haath dhone ka'. (To translate quickly into English, you do a certain act not because you want to do it, you do it because the bloke next to you is doing it!)
Neither have I lived in a slum, nor have I any friends who live in a slum, and my only right to write about this is the people talking negatively about this film aren't either!
I fell in the love with the movie "Slum Dog Millionaire" the first time I saw it, and I found it a plain love story between two kids, which is nurutured through the years, beautifully shot, lovely music and the best screenplay and a beautiful story that held it all together! How artistically done! Now instead of looking at the movie like just another Indian movie, our so called India-Image-Protectionists, are crying foul about the way India has been shown and Danny Boyle has shown what the "west wants to see India". What pains me is that even educated people (its not worth taking names, you can get them dime a dozen) including columnists, educationalists, artistes and the list goes on. I have a few questions to such opposers of the movie.
1. Can anybody deny what has been shown in the movie un-real. Aren't the kids of slums not vulnerable to such situations shown in the movie? (handicapped kids for begging, flesh-trade etc.) It has been proven times over that there are several such gangs involved in child trade. So what was Danny shown incorrectly?
2. An audience which is used to such mind numbing movies which show "politicians", "police" in bad light, and which rejoices in celebration of the same cinema on these lines, when such audience can find truth these movies, why did they fail to see such truth in this gem?
3. Something that I have noticed in the recent past, a new age India denying everything from the west. You are OK to wear good produced by the west starting to your undergarments to the perfumes on your outerwear but its not OK to get an Oscar. One question to those people who say we Indians should not go behind the Oscars. I think that is the call of faint hearted person, who is a coward at heart and incapable of making a good Cinema. Barring a few gems from the Indian film industry, there are very few good story tellers. My question is "how many indian movies are there which are even capable of captivating the audience completely, let alone get an Oscar".
Anyways putting an end to my questions I feel the reason the movie has done extremely well in the west, especially the US is: Americans love undedogs, the love underdogs going for the kill. That can be seen in their walk of life and that is the american spirit!
PS: My endevour here has not been to put India down or anything. I just wanted to protect the movie!
Over the past few days, I have read so many articles, watched so many TV shows, and found it has become a sort of a fashion bandwagaon, to talk negatively about "slumdog millionaire". ITs like 'behti huee ganga mein haath dhone ka'. (To translate quickly into English, you do a certain act not because you want to do it, you do it because the bloke next to you is doing it!)
Neither have I lived in a slum, nor have I any friends who live in a slum, and my only right to write about this is the people talking negatively about this film aren't either!
I fell in the love with the movie "Slum Dog Millionaire" the first time I saw it, and I found it a plain love story between two kids, which is nurutured through the years, beautifully shot, lovely music and the best screenplay and a beautiful story that held it all together! How artistically done! Now instead of looking at the movie like just another Indian movie, our so called India-Image-Protectionists, are crying foul about the way India has been shown and Danny Boyle has shown what the "west wants to see India". What pains me is that even educated people (its not worth taking names, you can get them dime a dozen) including columnists, educationalists, artistes and the list goes on. I have a few questions to such opposers of the movie.
1. Can anybody deny what has been shown in the movie un-real. Aren't the kids of slums not vulnerable to such situations shown in the movie? (handicapped kids for begging, flesh-trade etc.) It has been proven times over that there are several such gangs involved in child trade. So what was Danny shown incorrectly?
2. An audience which is used to such mind numbing movies which show "politicians", "police" in bad light, and which rejoices in celebration of the same cinema on these lines, when such audience can find truth these movies, why did they fail to see such truth in this gem?
3. Something that I have noticed in the recent past, a new age India denying everything from the west. You are OK to wear good produced by the west starting to your undergarments to the perfumes on your outerwear but its not OK to get an Oscar. One question to those people who say we Indians should not go behind the Oscars. I think that is the call of faint hearted person, who is a coward at heart and incapable of making a good Cinema. Barring a few gems from the Indian film industry, there are very few good story tellers. My question is "how many indian movies are there which are even capable of captivating the audience completely, let alone get an Oscar".
Anyways putting an end to my questions I feel the reason the movie has done extremely well in the west, especially the US is: Americans love undedogs, the love underdogs going for the kill. That can be seen in their walk of life and that is the american spirit!
PS: My endevour here has not been to put India down or anything. I just wanted to protect the movie!
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