Yet Another Excuse!

This nation should be called a "nation of excuses". Anytime anywhere and any mishap occurs, the nation comes out with a bag of excuses. Whom to trust and whom to not? I sometimes wonder if it would rather make sense to worry about the excuses rather than wasting our time on pondering over the incidents. Let us take for the case- the recent Mangalore Air tragedy in which countless lives were lost or the Indian cricket team dismal performance in the T20 World cup. 

The nation witnessed and heard in both the cases administrations who out rightly rejected any blame on the center and attributed causes to counterfeit reasons. While the former known for abstaining itself from any political chivalrous methods and declaring it was the pilot' fatigue, the latter declared the IPL parties.

Are we a nation of idiots blinded by the ideology that our the man in the chair can only speak the truth and so when he does something wrong we have no other options? I am dismayed and sad at the state of the affairs.

The Mangalore air tragedy occurred in the wee hours of the morning that probably meant dusk in many of the families. I am not an aviation expert to sit in the armchairs of NDTV, CNN IBN and so many media channels and describe what went wrong, but I could just tell you that those images disturbed me a lot. The newspapers reported that the pilots could have averted the tragedy by taking off when they had noticed that the thrust would have taken them across the reins.

All I can say is I can hear what the experts, government and rest can say, but you heard just a party. The pilots are no more with you us to tell us their stories. I also read the certain experts had already showcased government of certain airports' standards norms not matching the industrystandards. But still and for what price!

The T20 World Cup and India' exit is nothing new. I am appalled by the way Dhoni blamed the IPL Parties for the debacle. It was like a naive student who wanted all wanted Roti, Kapda and Makan, and when he got in abundance he forgot that he needs to work for it.

India plays most of the time in the sub-continent pitches, and the IPL show is another example of emptying your pockets for glitz and glory. How many players from IPL have come out to play for India in test cricket? All we need was a statement from the team that yes, folks we need to work on the short-pitch stuff. Would admittance have really made the team low?

Look, I am not sadist or hyperactive by these incidents but I am sad. I have lost all the hopes that this country exhibits. I would have still be contented kid had my heroes or the leaders be honest to admit their follies but no! It happens only when you take people for granted. I sense that these chaps feel that the common man is an idiot and all we need to do is sparkle once or twice.

I know every country will have officials and players like this, but not every country can boast of a rich and divine culture like India. All I can pray is that the next time a fellow makes an excuse it would hurt a little lesser.

The Tale of Hrithik' Kites

One question, Mr. Rakesh Roshan, "how many times have you watched Mexican movies that made you certain of a superhit in Bollywood?" I am sure there have been plenty but please do not tell me that out of the numerous flicks that you have copied right from Khoon Bari Maang to Kites, there has been anything original about it. 

Watching Kites made me realised that Bollywood simply cannot come out of its commercial aspect. And, even the best of directors or wanna be ones feel direction under a huge banner is a great thing, think twice. If Anurag Basu feels Kites has done justice to his career, I think he needs to go back to what he does better. Kites is a super boring, faltu and nonsense flick.

Hrithik is our Antonio Banderas who falls for Salma Hayek in Barbara Maori. Then after they have lip locked quite a few times, they discover marriage could be a nice plan. When marriage does not work, then death beckons. To start with the story has been dealt so many times earlier that it miserably impressed me. The dialogues are out of blue, plain and sub-standard. The movie keeps on going back and front as if Quentino Tarantino' aatma has got inside Anurag. 

Fair enough, Hrithik has got an awesome figure and he lets the teenyboppers whistle with his dance. The only saving grace of the movie is music. KK lends his voice in Dil Kyun mera shor kare and Zindagi do paal ke, and I must say he stands in contention for most of the awards this year.

I watch movies for entertainment but I do not want to be entertained by Rakesh Roshan over and over again with old formula. And, yes if you shoot a movie in Mexico and you have subtitles running throughout the movie, you stand a chance of missing the target audience. Hope luck prevails and Hrithik puts on a good performance else it will be just brawns only. 

As for Barbara, Rakesh Roshan could have got Salma Hayek or Penelope Cruze for this movie. Trust me! they would have been more sensuous for she was only there for the oomp appeal. Do not watch Kites unless you are blackmailed.

What' s Wrong in being a Gay!

It is a historical day in the land of Vatsyan. Homosexuality or Gayism has been tagged off from the brand of ‘achutness’ and 'criminal offences’. Long parades of demonstrations and celebrations of juvenility have been exhibited by the homosexuals in the various parts of India.

Bollywood stars have come in full support with actors like Celina Jaitley standing arms in arms with gays, pictures being displayed in the front covers of all the leading newspapers and magazines.

As the Indian media contingent continues to publicize and broadcast this news everywhere, I found myself with four of my colleagues debating on this issue. One of them started with a scrumptiously disgust look in his face,“now, we will see man-man having sex, it is cheap and so ridiculous.“ This debate continued for a while.

My take is and you are open to debate on it:"God has created both man and woman, and they have been entrusted with the responsibility of choosing the right and wrong, good or bad.

Your actions in this world have nothing to do with what other people think about it. You are and you will be the sole responsible for your actions. Therefore, choosing upon your partner should be your own decision. God has given you the right to choose your partner. Then, how does choosing a male or a female partner matter?

I also agree that God created woman to see that this beautiful world flourishes. He gave women the most beautiful gift- to give birth. She struggles endlessly for nine months to bring that precious thing in this world. However, this organ is missing in man.

Man has and never been able to procreate naturally. It is next to impossible. Now, does this mean a man cannot marry another man? I think it is ridiculous to think so in terms of only physical desires. No body is asking every one of us to be turned into homosexuals.

I fear that in India, parents conceive their kids to act by the way they judge one. You are supposed to obey and marry the same boy or girl your parents select. Pre-marital sex and live-in relationships are still considered by the Indian society as a taboo. But, my question is, whether listening to each of their actions is justified? Actually, people are not looking love here. They have already started looking into its evils and loopholes.

The first thing is SEX. The Supreme Court has banned anal sex between males, and I am not getting into there. However, try to analyze that Homosexuality is just another common way of man leading their lives. Questions have started pouring whether Lesbianism is OK? Yes, so what is wrong here? Both are ways of living their lives. A society will not get spoil for them, for God's sake.

The more these social restrictions are erased, the more people will enjoy their livelihood. The moral tenet of any marriage in every religion is ‘to have a blissful life’. So, why should a person be morally discouraged to marry a woman when he likes a man?

Neither the man nor the woman will be happy in that sense. I think it is time the society grows up and accept Homosexuality as a common thing. There will be polls conducted, debates held and what not in television and online media, but you have to listen to your heart, and not go by the polls. Because, the society doesn not come to help you when you do not have work and are living in damned walls.

If it makes two people of the same sex live in peace and harmony, who are we to crib about it? Let’s broaden our outlook. Lets get our educational institutions teach right and wrong. Let's not shield away from truth.

We have enough problems in our country. Let us use our energy getting them rectified, instead of maligning homosexuals.

I am straight, and I hope that when I get married, my wife and I will have no issues if we have a son that grows up to be a gay. It’s after all an individual choice. Let’s learn to respect it."   Into that Freedom my father! let me country awake.

The Lakes of Kumaon

The shoelaces seem to be tied at wrong places. And, the legs were definitely tired after the prolonged classroom hours. Heads bedazzled by the fiery equations and logarithms of professor Pinto'Advanced Mathematics classes. One could not but for a moment compelled to ask: was Alex destined for all this? Beyond this square feet classroom lay his desire, his ambition and his camera.

The greenery, the valleys of Kumaon were his interest. Alex' dad often travel places and he had bought a Pintex 500 from London. Ah! it had remained such an upheaval interest. All day long Alex would go out in the valleys with his camera and kept on shooting photographs at will. He had this knack of capturing the slightest moment and transforming them into radiant beauties. Perhaps, Joseph Chenni, the principal and art teacher of ST. Peters Catherdal School attributed Alex' taste of photography to his 'delight in loneliness'.

Alex was the single child of his parents,which meant due to any siblings he grew up all alone playing with toys and trying hard to embrace the solace. In comes art in his life. The flush of colors and the crayons struck a magical portrayal, and deep down in his heart Alex knew that he was building a world of his own. At first Alex started with his drawing books. He used to open a chapter and start coloring the objects on the chapter- animals, monuments, statues and so on. Then his father got transferred to Kumaon, a beautiful town in the beat of Uttarakhand, India.

Here unlike Jim Corbett,Alex took out his camera and started clicking pics. First it was a hobby and slowly and gradually Alex started taking more interest in the intricacies of the cameras. The technicalities did not seem to be easy for him but he did not mind. He was so good with it that slowly the school found an official photographer.

Alex wanted to pursue his career in photography but he knew that it was not going to easy for him. The family never approved his decision and soon enough he decided to quit his dreams.

Years later after a broken relationship and enough cash in the bank, Alex got a chance to pick up his camera. He had come down to Ladakh to write his new novel. The tall mountains and chillness of Ladakh forced him to take his camera and start clicking the pics. Though it took him sometime to get to the original form, Alex still fancied an award or so.

As he sat down after a hectic day of shooting, he realized his biggest folly. He understood that he was late in achieving his dreams. That he was always destined to be a photographer and inspite of all the odds that life offered he still had the camera with him today. Perhaps, the strength to face your own father while discussing your dreams or careers comes from within and he did not have it anytime. Alex could understood that he could not blame his father for this delay. It was him all along.The reflection on the water bore seem to get bigger every second but much happier to Alex. Perhaps, it was time to click more pics and get them enlarged.