When God stood in front of me

The sun had just set and the darkness was trying to cover the light. It was when the flood lights went on. Darkness went into dark and the light came to life again.

With tousled hair, sweating temple and thirsty throat, I was standing amongst the ocean of people. At times I was clapping, at times shouting and was quite too at times. I was watching all the known faces but still there was something new in my sight. With my naked eyes I was watching all the legends around.

Suddenly my heartbeats increased. Amid those great men, emerged a 5ft 5’ tall figure with curly hair, fair skin and a divine smile. Wherever he went there was aureole of flash light (flash lights of numerous cameras) surrounding him. There was indeed some kind of enlightenment in him which he never showed. But there was respect for him all around. The crowd never stopped chanting his name. For the next four hours he was in front of me, running, jumping and diving with a childlike enthusiasm and I was watching all this with my mouth open. I was watching a picture of the lifetime. A picture which was not only vivid but also serene.

While watching all this, I had hardly realized that an ocean of emotion filled my heart. Tear tried to escape from the corner of my eye. Silently and unknowingly the trembling hand of mine had reached my heart bowing to the greatness of a man who was spreading his charisma all over.

Suddenly I was brought back on earth by the triumphant slogans and cheers, when I actually realized that during all these four hours, it was God Himself who actually stood in front of me…

IPL - Indian Paisa League

They say, ‘Garibi Hatao’

I say, ‘Garibi Hai Kaha Batao’?

Are Bhai India is Rich,

At least on the Cricket Ka Pitch.

IPL-INDIAN PAISA LEAGUE hai Ek Business

Jaha kharida-becha jata hai Players ka Talent

Everywhere Money Pours,

That’s why PUNE 1700 Crores!!!

Neta-Abhineta ya ho koi Cricketer

Sabhi jebe bhar rahe hai because of this Tender

Ek Player ke Piche 5-5 Sponsor,

Dollars me hai, aaj inki Power

But har aane ka hota hai 2 side

Positive side dilata hai use ek Pride

IPL is giving chance to new Boys,

So, mil rahe hai TEAM INDIA ko bahut saare Choice

When Sachin cheers for Malinga’s success,

Sportsmanship ka Spirit bahut saara increases

Itna sab hote hue bhi, the question arises-

When playersswitch teams

Means Unke liye only the Money gleams

When There is PAISA PAISA everywhere

Then Tax bharne ko why they Scare

So, The moral of the story is –

IPL Paisa kamane ka Machine hai

Cricket Ki Duniya ka naya Sachin (GOD) hai!!!

Freedom of Speech

They say that every dog has his own day. But when it comes to politics this phrase has something more to it. I feel here it becomes ‘Every dog has his own day but if the day doesn’t favour you then you are nothing more than a dog’. Something similar happened in case of Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi who was elected as vice chancellor of Darul Uloom in Deoband, a leading school of Islamic theology

Hardly, a few days had past when Vastanavi, an MBA graduate had taken the charge as the VC of Darul Uloom and within next couple of days the demand for his resignation roared in many parts of the country.

It so happened that in one of his conference, Vastanavi had backed Narendra Modi and had appreciated the development he has done in the state of Gujarat. This controversial statement of his about the controversial man marked his sudden downfall.

The Muslims were unable to digest the fact that how could Vastanavi, a Muslim himself could stand by a anti Muslim figure like Modi who was instrumental in the 2002 Gujrat Communal riots.

In his defence, Vastanavi is very clear with his stand, according to him Muslims should emerge out of past and move on. What’s wrong in this?

Frankly speaking there is absolutely nothing wrong in his stand and by the way what’s wrong in appreciating one for one’s good deeds. No doubt that Modi role in fuelling the riots, but one can’t deny his role in the development of Gujarat. So whatever Vastanavi had commented about Modi stands perfectly valid.

But the activists protesting against Vastanavi are unable to or rather don’t want to understand this viewpoint of his.

Vastanavi on the other hand never forgets to mention that he was trapped, yes this is also true because in politics you need to be politically correct, what this MBA graduate basically lacked was his ‘political’ oratory skill because of which he said what he believed and not what others wanted him to believe.

Looking at the whole episode, my question is simple, do we really have the right to speech.

As an aftermath of this, Vastanavi who had came to power with a promise to bring a radical change in the community may lose his power itself. In this way one more promising man will fall prey to this dirty politics and one more chapter will close.

Dhobi Ghat

It’s not about any community, It’s not about any profession but it’s about Mumbai, it’s about a place in Mumbai called The Dhobi Ghat.

The story revolves around four people in the city of Mumbai -

Arun, A painter who stays alone and always likes to be alone
Munna, A washerman from the Dhobi Ghat who dreams of becoming an actor
Shy, An Indian Banker settled in America, photography is her hobby and always likes to click natural pictures
Noor, An Housewife who comes from a small village in Uttar Pradesh. She is recently married and settled in Mumbai, who dreams of showing this grad city to her brother one day.

How they meet, what life they live is the story of DHOBI GHAT. But all of them have one thing in common and that’s Mumbai!!!

The film is rightly captioned as ‘MUMBAI DIARIES’ as it truly depicts the incidences happening on the streets of the city. It has everything of Mumbai –
The Crowd, The Ganesh Festival, The Ajanta Ellora, The Marine Drive, The Haji Ali, The Gate Way of India and most importantly The Rain of Mumbai.

Being a 90 minute film, it never loses its grip rather keeps one stuck to one’s seat for the complete duration. Some scenes are really touching especially the one in which Prateik Babbar when asked why did you come to Mumbai from Bihar, Very innocently he says,” Waha Bhuk bahut Lagti thi aur Khana nahi milta tha” Really speaking this is the actual reason why People come to Mumbai from every corner of India. And this motherland feeds everyone alike, never discriminating any one on the grounds of caste, creed or language.

Extremely well written and directed by Kiran Rao. The star cast is very good.
Be its Shai of Monica Dogra or Yasmin of Kriti Malhotra, both are instrumental in their respective roles.

But, the real icing on the cake is Munna played by Prateik Babbar. The boy effectively shows the roots he belongs to rightly inheriting the legacy of acting from his mother Late. Smita Patil herself.

Finally the cherry on the icing, Painter Arun played by the perfectionist Aamir Khan.

It is difficult to say, if this story lackss anything, but still if one has to point out then the duration of just 90 minutes for Bollywood lovers who are habitual of watching a 3 hour movie (sometimes even 3.5 hours) is bit difficult to digest.

Moreover, if you will go for this movie with an expectation of watching romance or action, then sorry this is not your cup of tea. A masala movie lover, after matching this may think that whatever I have written is all Bakwaas.

Once again I am telling you that This is not a commercial cinema.
But I would request, do watch this movie if you want to see something really off beat but still touching.

I am not a film critic but offcourse a film lover and from My side it's 4/5 to Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan for this 'different' project.

The Fright of The Flight

The fiery tale of AI at Mangalore was a nightmare which each one of us would like to forget. But some wounds can’t be healed that easily. Approximately 400 people died in that ‘bloody’ ride. But with these 400 people, died the hopes of their 400 families. A bride lost her two brothers; families lost its 16 members in one go. It is easy to write this because I as a person have not lost anyone whom I call to be mine. But I can’t even think of the mental status of those who’s near and dear was killed by this devil.

The blame game is on. And it’s a simple thumb rule in aviation industry; after the crash if the Pilot is dead: Blame Him and if he is alive: screw him.

Some people are blaming the bad condition of the runway; some even dare to point the finger on the passengers who do not switch off their mobiles in the flight which further causes the clash of the radio signals.

But what is the use of blaming one another because the lives which are lost cannot be brought back. When we know that the ten-twelve airports are given the ‘DANGEROUS” status – I mean which do not qualify the coveted standards, in such case why can’t these politicians keep aside their political interests and solve the problem.

When I was a kid, I used to love the cartoon called ‘Duck Tales’ and in that my favourite character was ‘Launchpad’ who was a pilot and his every landing was a ‘Crash Landing’ but He always survived from those crash lands. But as I grew older, I realized that ‘Real’ life is altogether different from the ‘Toon’ Life. Here in Real life, flying a plane is not a Toon Business and you rarely survive a crash.

It is claimed that this is the worst air crash of the decade but when we are able to rate the crashes, this means that these crashes are not rare. Every time a crash happens people get a new topic of debate, discuss for few days till there is a new debatable issue. Politicians? They never bother to take their responsibility. But in case of Mangalore crash, Aviation Minister Mr. Praful Patel dared to take the responsibility by offering his resignation but the Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh very wisely refused his plea and asked him to behave more responsibly by facing the situation and not by running away. I hope that the ‘Think Tank’ called Manmohan will be able to solve this trouble so that the Kingflyers Indians won’t face such trouble ever.

This 'OUTAGE' Is Taking Us 'OUT OF THE AGE'

This is the month of May and the sun is in his brightest mood. Some cities in India are heated up to as great as 48 degree Celsius.

In such atmosphere the demand for air-conditioners is increasing.

But, how an air-conditioner will come to one’s rescue when there is no power supply?

Yes! Most of the cities in India are facing a trauma called Load Shedding and that too for eight-ten hours per day!

When there is an outage for such a long time, then the batteries of inverters are also unable to sustain.

As a solution to this many private sector companies are entering into the power sector business, the latest example being that of the ‘Hiranandani Group’- A Stalwart in Infrastructure Business.

Deregulation seemed to be a good alternative but after the very recent TATA Power-Reliance Energy Clash, this alternative too doesn’t look full proof.

In this 21st century this severe 'OUTAGE' is taking us 'OUT OF THE AGE'. Sometimes I feel that I am living in those historical days when people had no 'POWER'. Actually most of our inventions run on electricity and this Load Shedding is really making us 'POWERLESS'

But, in such a grave situation can’t the Common Man do anything?

Of course! The answer lies with us. Inculcate the habit of putting off the devices when not in use. This is the very basic and the simplest thing which one should apply not only at one’s home but also at one’s work place or wherever one goes.

Few years back, one article in the Times of India said that the lights and fans of the ‘MANTRALAYA’ at Mumbai were found to be on even at night i.e. after the working hours. In this case the care takers of the MANTRALAYA and the so called care takers of the people should take care of their responsibilities responsibly. If they do so then lot of energy can be saved which can be used to light the towns affected by load shedding.

Many ad film makers are trying to work for this noble cause by making ads which remind us about our responsibility in this regards.

Now it is up to us that how we take care of man’s very own brain child called ‘ELECTRICITY’ so that not only our Homes but also our Motherland’s economy brightens.

As I always try to show both the sides of the coin, here in this case I don’t find any brighter side of electricity except for the fact that these outages during night time have compelled people to go for ‘SOCIAL GATHERING’ who are usually engrossed in ‘SOCIAL NETWORKING’

The Woman Power

India has always taken care of her women. Be it giving voting rights to women or introducing the 'Ladies Compartments' in trains,

India has always set an example for the world. The recent decision of 33% reservation for women in legislative assemblies is also a milestone

in itself. The bill has been approved, what next? What is the fate of this bill?

As always this issue also has its brighter and the darker side. Let's see the brighter side first.

THE BRIGHTER SIDE:

Women will atlast get their prominent voice after fighting for this for more than fifty years.

More and more women will try to make their career in politics and will make their opinion count.

As many people believe that woman is a 'homemaker' first so she knows her day to day problems and budget and can very well make use of this experience in running the country. eg: Making a 'feasible' budget for the nation.

When most of us can feel that these reasons are fair enough to show the green signal to the bill, wait!

Doubts still exist regarding the implementation of the dicision.

Let's see the sceptism.

THE DARKER SIDE:

In a male dominated country like ours, will the women really get their voice? Don't look at the urban ladies,

I am talking about the rural women, where still most of them are deprived of education.

Won't it give more power to the men themselves, remember who was the decision maker when Rabri Devi was the CM of Bihar? and Laloo has himself admitted this while opposing this reservation for women saying that when a woman will take a decision,

it will mostly be the brainchild of some or the other man.

Moreover it is not that corruption has not touched women. The best example, the idol of female scams, Mayawati!

Chances can't be denied that more Mayawatis will be born because of this decison.

So, its the implementation will always matter! If India can do it well, then there is no stopping for the New 'Mother Indias', 'Daughter Indias' and all 'Female Indias'.

Though skeptical, I am really looking ahead for the success of this bill kepping my fingers crossed!

All The Best India!!!