Congrats for breaking a cliche, Delhi!
How many times have you felt or have heard that sports is always given a second place to education in India? I know, right? The best player in your hockey team skips practice and your team suffers because he has an exam that Monday. Or some of the young talents just disappear off the map just when they are peaking, because of the board exams. However, we cannot complain that way any longer. Delhi, the capital city has set a precedent that the whole nation can be proud of. For the first time, brace yourself folks, Sports has been given the importance that has been reserved for Education. Kudos to the capital city. Thank you for making us all proud. We appreciate the fact that INR 28000 CRORES (nearly 7 billion USD) has been spent in making Delhi a worldclass city for the CWG; an event which will make sure that we project the best picture possible as the developing nation that everybody talks about. Screw the naysayers, who clamour that it is just a repeat of what China did for the Olympics. They don't know squat about advertising. Thank you Delhi, for showing the world that India is not the land of snake charmers and rope tricks. Who really cares if that comes at the cost of clearing off "inconvenient" people creating eye-sores for our esteemed guests? Wait a minute, most of them are not coming? Why? Because the infrastructure is poor? Those bastards. Don't they know that whatever we are doing, we are doing at the cost of building new schools and staffing existing schools? Shame on them. Screw Azim Premji who talks about the unhealthy living conditions for construction workers from the most difficult circumstances in India; we can send them right back to Bihar once the work of "beautifying" our Capital City is done. What is it that you are saying? Bihar does not have enough schools? If we have too many schools there, who will be the construction workers that build the infrastructure of New Age India? Come on, there is a bigger picture here you sentimental idiots. Now, let us all bend over. Delhi has something to say...
The Confusing case of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
THE GOOD: Did you know that the Tamil Nadu government has done away with the pass/fail system upto class nine? After those years of education, each student will be given an elementary education completion certificate. I salute the good people who made this direction possible. Education for all. Hats off to the brave people who made this possible. Now, the pressure that equates performance to marks will give way for some creative, holistic development in the student who until recently, resembled a pack-mule with books.
THE BAD: The same govt also imposed the long-awaited and much needed cap on the amount collected per term by private schools in Tamil Nadu. Now, from a distance, this looks like a responsible move. And when I think of schools that made a culture out of snobbery and sold its seats to the highest bidders, it is a rule that should be implemented with utmost vehemence. But there are schools which do not necessarily do that. There are schools which sponsor some ofthe students from a tough background with their fees and uniforms. This is where the "Bad" part of this rule kicks in; as the big fish tear through this rule with their rating system and facilities expenses (as they can charge for extra classes and make it unofficially mandatory to make up for the lost revenue), and the small schools that care about the students get jacked. The average salary of a teacher in a small private school is far from attractive. The old axiom that only those who can't do, teach, is coming true more with the passing day; with a small change, as only those who can't do IT, teach. (when I say IT, I mean Information Technology, my perverted readers). That the first casualty of this cap on fees is going to be the quality of teachers, for the salaries are bound to go down from the current bad state. Though attractive salaries should not be the force that drives someone towards the vocation of teaching, don't the teachers live in the real world as well? With the UGC making sure that established professors could easily take home up to half a lakh per month as salary, and govt teachers' association making sure that teachers can live with comfort and security; what sin have the private school teachers done to be left uncared for?
THE UGLY: Now, another dangerous angle that we have to consider due to this measure is attrition. Those around the 30 year mark would not think twice about going IT; and even if they are not fit for the field the could easily opt for the numberless BPOs and Call-centers. It would look like that such attrition is not possible from those who are considered "seniors" (past the young age of 35, if you would believe me). Consider this; if such a teacher realizes that not only is the salary never going to improve but also it may suffer a downslide? What? Would they not be making a LOT more money for a lot LESS work if they start, get this, a private tuition centre? Last I checked, there are NO boards/checks/restrictions/fee-caps for tuitions. All this, and the timing is pretty flexible? Now, those teachers would be crazy not to think about these options. I once knew a chemistry teacher who had retired from active teaching (voluntary retirement). He taught three sessions in the morning and four in the evening. Each session had class thrice a week. So, there were fourteen batches. Each batch had about 40 students. He charged just 500 rupees from each student. He taught from the comforts of his residence. So he made a net profit of at least 2.5 lakhs per month. The year was 1999-2000. Now, in 2010, I still know teachers who scrape a living out of salaries 3000 per month. The govt which made an oh-so-grand declaration about cutting down school fees, has sadly done very little about the high attrition in teachers. That is plain UGLY; and dangerously so.
Showing posts with label Coffee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coffee. Show all posts
26 August 2010
14 May 2010
Thank you Calcutta!
A friend asked me to write a long letter about my stay in Calcutta. It has been two years since I have come to this city. Here is an excerpt from the letter...
:) a flood of memories come on to me like a giant wave. suddenly, i am reminded of a different time, where my city smelled of the sea whenever i turned east. where, all troubles could vanish if i just turned the bike towards the beach road. different times. so many people. a lot of moments. i am already there. wait, again, there is loyola college. how many coffees i had and how many spoons of sugar have i stolen from rishi. not a single haunt has been left unhaunted by me. the place at the side of bertram hall. the hostel. the cricket ground. hockey ground. football ground. the side of loyola church. the ictr. viscom dept. social work dept. chemistry dept. main block. landing. jubilee block. canteen. yrcs office. so many places. each with its own memories. there were days when i reached loyola at 7.30 in the morning and stayed on till 8.30 at the night. and now. everything is just a memory. the bad ones leave no longer a bitter taste. the good ones have become idealized into a dream. memory. i always says, that it is difficult for sense perception/experience to match up with memory. and so it is with chennai. it is now Madras. a distant, dream city. my home city by name. when i am angry with the world, i think of how i am stranded in calcutta. when i am in harmony with it, i look around and thank god for the many blessings that i have received here. life has been a good journey. sometimes difficult. sometimes easy. but always on the run. never in the same moment twice.
and suddenly, two years have gone by.
i have not dwelled on that thought too much. but two days ago, on the twelfth of may, 2008, i had first set foot in calcutta. Chinna and i had come here for me to take my entrance test. things did not go as expected. everything looked as if this trip would be reduced to being a short vacation to a city that i had never been to. but things changed. when i came to start a new life in calcutta, my dad took a transfer to work here in the same place as i. we moved into a small house. hardly 200 feet in dimensions. i did not have my bike. the trip to the university was a while away. i cannot say that i was not afraid. and still, things were interesting. challenging... more than anything else, always changing.
soon, i got back the comforts of my old life. i created a new life for myself. this beautiful city has opened its arms to me and taken me to her bosom. one thing i know for sure about calcutta is that, as a city, she teems with life. she has a distinct soul. she is beautiful. i learned more about life and myself. i have gained as a person. i have been guided from strength to strength. things keep looking better.
two years have gone by. not so suddenly.
I realized that I cannot write just one long letter about Calcutta. They always have to be many short ones. But here is a short list of those I thank. Not just in Calcutta. Not just FOR Calcutta. Not in any specific order.
...
.....
......
....
...
No. I still am afraid that I will miss many names.
So, thank you, all of you.
I love you all.
Thank you, Calcutta.
:) a flood of memories come on to me like a giant wave. suddenly, i am reminded of a different time, where my city smelled of the sea whenever i turned east. where, all troubles could vanish if i just turned the bike towards the beach road. different times. so many people. a lot of moments. i am already there. wait, again, there is loyola college. how many coffees i had and how many spoons of sugar have i stolen from rishi. not a single haunt has been left unhaunted by me. the place at the side of bertram hall. the hostel. the cricket ground. hockey ground. football ground. the side of loyola church. the ictr. viscom dept. social work dept. chemistry dept. main block. landing. jubilee block. canteen. yrcs office. so many places. each with its own memories. there were days when i reached loyola at 7.30 in the morning and stayed on till 8.30 at the night. and now. everything is just a memory. the bad ones leave no longer a bitter taste. the good ones have become idealized into a dream. memory. i always says, that it is difficult for sense perception/experience to match up with memory. and so it is with chennai. it is now Madras. a distant, dream city. my home city by name. when i am angry with the world, i think of how i am stranded in calcutta. when i am in harmony with it, i look around and thank god for the many blessings that i have received here. life has been a good journey. sometimes difficult. sometimes easy. but always on the run. never in the same moment twice.
and suddenly, two years have gone by.
i have not dwelled on that thought too much. but two days ago, on the twelfth of may, 2008, i had first set foot in calcutta. Chinna and i had come here for me to take my entrance test. things did not go as expected. everything looked as if this trip would be reduced to being a short vacation to a city that i had never been to. but things changed. when i came to start a new life in calcutta, my dad took a transfer to work here in the same place as i. we moved into a small house. hardly 200 feet in dimensions. i did not have my bike. the trip to the university was a while away. i cannot say that i was not afraid. and still, things were interesting. challenging... more than anything else, always changing.
soon, i got back the comforts of my old life. i created a new life for myself. this beautiful city has opened its arms to me and taken me to her bosom. one thing i know for sure about calcutta is that, as a city, she teems with life. she has a distinct soul. she is beautiful. i learned more about life and myself. i have gained as a person. i have been guided from strength to strength. things keep looking better.
two years have gone by. not so suddenly.
I realized that I cannot write just one long letter about Calcutta. They always have to be many short ones. But here is a short list of those I thank. Not just in Calcutta. Not just FOR Calcutta. Not in any specific order.
...
.....
......
....
...
No. I still am afraid that I will miss many names.
So, thank you, all of you.
I love you all.
Thank you, Calcutta.
03 October 2009
Unnai Pol Oruvan on A Wednesday!
First of all, thank you Ram. It was a momentary thing, and the inconsistent me is back.
I made it a point to watch A Wednesday at least a week before UPO released. I am happy man for having done so; for if I had seen the latter first and made these following comments, people would have accused me that whatever we watch first strikes us more. Thanx to my order of viewing, people will only accuse me of being partisan to my mother tongue. Yippeee!!!
Simple stories go a long way - the biggest movies have always had a simple story to tell. Good ones, bad ones, yes, but simple ones. This story is a simple one too. A Common Man, reacts to the distressing realities of his city life and takes matters in his own hands. He holds the city ransom while demanding four terrorists be handed over (the purpose of which is later revealed to be murder of the murderers). I am impelled, as a writer to discuss the essential danger in such a plot - is the Old Testament still the ultimate authority in legal issues? Or has wishful thinking made the makers of this film blind-sided to the ethical implications of the MESSAGE they communicate? We all understand how the author himself feels about it -when we see the fourth terrorist escaping the fate meant for him, the writer.z choice is to kill him anyway for emphasis. But it is not a question of such a reaction to society is right or wrong - but it should be remembered that both the movies have been successful and such an anger is deeprooted in the hearts of the people. Beware of the cats. Particularly the ones that can imitate too well.
Now as I hear swear-words from people who have NOT seen the movie, let me go back to the format of an old fashioned review. From the beginning, I did NOT like the idea of Kamal remaking A Wednesday - for two reasons. 1, A remake means that Kamal is not engaging himself with original material for a significant amount of time. 2, A Wednesday is an extremely topical film - with the background of the Mumbai train blasts the year before and the attacks in November, the movie strikes a chord without having to say much as to the WHY of the story. There is an instant connection. But the story set in a city which has not been under a general curfew since the second world war seemed too far-fetched. What was Kamal thinking?
But I was pleasantly surprised in Kamal.z take on the whole script. The angle with which the Common Man was approached had changed drastically - from Naserudin Shah'z tired old man who wanted to take a stand to Kamal'z socially upright, first-in-line-to-justice and borderline arrogant portrayal, the tempo was markedly different. Initially, like everyone else, I was not okay with Kamal playing Naserudin Shah'z role for the simple reason that while the latter has played roles of ambiguous/negative nature well (even in bad movies like Krisssshhhhh), Kamal, discounting his white-guy role in Dasavatharam, has not played a good villainic role in ages. People are not going to believe that Kamal is the bad guy no matter how hard he tries. They wait for the explanation to connect the dots - as to how is a good guy. Naserudin Shah keeps you guessing, albeit for at least until the unnecessary intermission. I finally figured out that Kamal cannot pull this off.
Surprisingly, Kamal could. And he did. Making the character a good ten years younger, decidedly smarter, stronger and more daring, the lines blur as we wonder if he is doing it to satisfy the ego of the superstar or to actually give more credibility to the motivation. Either way, he is convincing. Only a man who is capable of going well out of his way to make a point would ever come into the cycle. That'z why we have a tougher common man. Like it is said, Common Sense is the least common commodity - we recognize in this character a set of traits which we all want to possess, but compromise in everyday life. This movie is an ego trip and a self-gratification to all who watch it. giving us a sense of power which comes only for a very high price. In A Wednesday, the price is never shown - the fantasy is left in its own plane. But UPO tries as much as it can to ground the fantasy in the sphere of reality. That is why you see the real Chief Minister's house and there is no 6' tall ex-millitary man standing deferentially to Anupam Kher'z decisions. With everybody trying to protect their own interest, the credibility is rivetting.
Technically UPO is a superior film than A Wednesday - in editing, cinematography, sound/re-recording and music. The consistency in which the plausibility is upheld is also commendable. In acting, Naserudin Shah'z performance is a completely different take from Kamal'z and therefore a comparison becomes impossible. However, Anupam Kher'z performance comes a distant second to Mohanlal'z solid presence. Very few movies give good actors roles where everything is going for them - this is definitely one such for Mohanlal. Unlike the saintly Kher whose every word is treated with reverence, Mohanlal has so many practical difficulties despite his apparent unlimited power. UPO fails to deliver with the other actors though - everyone (from the terrorist to the newsperson) doing a half-cooked job. Lakshmi is an exceptional choice who shines in her brief but powerful role (which was not present in the original).
So, the final verdict on UPO is that it is a perfect remake. In the sense, that it was a movie which took the original as a starting point to improve upon, perfect and most importantly, bringing it home to a different audience, tailoring the product to their tastes. It is heartening to know such an effort is possible in a remake, particularly in a time where remakes are diminutive, grotesque bastard children (like Ghajini from Memento). Having said that, I do hope that Kamal'z next is an original script where he contributes to the source rather than developing an already established format. So, until then! cheers!!!
UPDATE!!!! (4th November 09)
A friend of mine sends an opinion of his friend on the movie. I take the liberty of publishing my response as a part of the blog...
Thanx lenny for bringin my attention to this article. the followingreply is to that girl with a name so common tat every one in two kidshave it; male or female. go ahead and laugh at my vitriolicresponse!!! guhuhaahahaahah....
the speaker sums up my point of view in the title of her blog.basically the jobless. enough already! i am tired of people walkinginto a chinese restaurant and crying that they re hindu brahmins whoare offended at the pork-making and cow-killings! nw again, thisspeaker will definitely pick up a fight with Spielberg, for when hemade the movie Schindler's List, how dare he showed that the jews werepersecuted. is tat not an organized way of defaming the germans?particularly when the Jews are no good themselves.. did they notmurder in cold blood the messaih, Jesus Christ himself?!! FOR FUCK'SSAKE! lets have some perspective here. when i am making a film with aspecific story in mind, i cannot tackle everything about theparticular aspect i am talking about. if you feel so strongly aboutit, go make a movie yourself. doesnt take much more than a videocamera. Paranormal has proved it. but let the politics of technologygo to hell for the while. i have a couple of questions. so how SHOULDthe Indian-Muslim be portrayed? or should it be Muslim-Indian? if heshould neither be a terrorist nor a patriot, what other roles shouldthere be for the PERSON? by the way you talk about it, he should be,first of all, a she. Good, i can deal with that; for we are the samepeople who whistled at Angelina Jolie kicking a variety of machoasses. but wait! let me check my necessity for an ass-kicking specimento be the protagonist of the story.. or even my presumptousness tothink that the person has to be a protagonist at all. how dare I!? So,this person should not be shown tackling their daily problems theyencounter because they re a VICTIMIZED group. so the movie should moreor less cover the three hours of a Muslim female who has a pleasantlife, doing whater she likes doing. and where is the story?
at this point, i want to let ur friend knw, tat unfortunately, we areall part of a conventional world where telling a story is still thepoint of a movie. oh crap.! when did that disaster happen?! so re utelling me tat no matter how politically incorrect a movie is, it canstill be a movie?!?!?! seriously, dudette, get a life. OF COURSE BenHur is a movie; despite having kicked half the horses in their buxombutts. if animal rights has a problem with it, tat.z exactly wat itmeans - animal rights has a problem with it. IT CANNOT BECOME ANY LESSOF A MOVIE, BECAUSE OF SOMEONE HAVING A PROBLEM WITH IT! so ya, if youaint down with that, i ve got two words for u.! watch it?! :P
cheers lenny. may the force be with you. n btw, let ur friend knowtat i am all game to defend the Jedis, if she thinks that they are atraditionalist rebellion against the great democratic force of theempire!
I made it a point to watch A Wednesday at least a week before UPO released. I am happy man for having done so; for if I had seen the latter first and made these following comments, people would have accused me that whatever we watch first strikes us more. Thanx to my order of viewing, people will only accuse me of being partisan to my mother tongue. Yippeee!!!
Simple stories go a long way - the biggest movies have always had a simple story to tell. Good ones, bad ones, yes, but simple ones. This story is a simple one too. A Common Man, reacts to the distressing realities of his city life and takes matters in his own hands. He holds the city ransom while demanding four terrorists be handed over (the purpose of which is later revealed to be murder of the murderers). I am impelled, as a writer to discuss the essential danger in such a plot - is the Old Testament still the ultimate authority in legal issues? Or has wishful thinking made the makers of this film blind-sided to the ethical implications of the MESSAGE they communicate? We all understand how the author himself feels about it -when we see the fourth terrorist escaping the fate meant for him, the writer.z choice is to kill him anyway for emphasis. But it is not a question of such a reaction to society is right or wrong - but it should be remembered that both the movies have been successful and such an anger is deeprooted in the hearts of the people. Beware of the cats. Particularly the ones that can imitate too well.
Now as I hear swear-words from people who have NOT seen the movie, let me go back to the format of an old fashioned review. From the beginning, I did NOT like the idea of Kamal remaking A Wednesday - for two reasons. 1, A remake means that Kamal is not engaging himself with original material for a significant amount of time. 2, A Wednesday is an extremely topical film - with the background of the Mumbai train blasts the year before and the attacks in November, the movie strikes a chord without having to say much as to the WHY of the story. There is an instant connection. But the story set in a city which has not been under a general curfew since the second world war seemed too far-fetched. What was Kamal thinking?
But I was pleasantly surprised in Kamal.z take on the whole script. The angle with which the Common Man was approached had changed drastically - from Naserudin Shah'z tired old man who wanted to take a stand to Kamal'z socially upright, first-in-line-to-justice and borderline arrogant portrayal, the tempo was markedly different. Initially, like everyone else, I was not okay with Kamal playing Naserudin Shah'z role for the simple reason that while the latter has played roles of ambiguous/negative nature well (even in bad movies like Krisssshhhhh), Kamal, discounting his white-guy role in Dasavatharam, has not played a good villainic role in ages. People are not going to believe that Kamal is the bad guy no matter how hard he tries. They wait for the explanation to connect the dots - as to how is a good guy. Naserudin Shah keeps you guessing, albeit for at least until the unnecessary intermission. I finally figured out that Kamal cannot pull this off.
Surprisingly, Kamal could. And he did. Making the character a good ten years younger, decidedly smarter, stronger and more daring, the lines blur as we wonder if he is doing it to satisfy the ego of the superstar or to actually give more credibility to the motivation. Either way, he is convincing. Only a man who is capable of going well out of his way to make a point would ever come into the cycle. That'z why we have a tougher common man. Like it is said, Common Sense is the least common commodity - we recognize in this character a set of traits which we all want to possess, but compromise in everyday life. This movie is an ego trip and a self-gratification to all who watch it. giving us a sense of power which comes only for a very high price. In A Wednesday, the price is never shown - the fantasy is left in its own plane. But UPO tries as much as it can to ground the fantasy in the sphere of reality. That is why you see the real Chief Minister's house and there is no 6' tall ex-millitary man standing deferentially to Anupam Kher'z decisions. With everybody trying to protect their own interest, the credibility is rivetting.
Technically UPO is a superior film than A Wednesday - in editing, cinematography, sound/re-recording and music. The consistency in which the plausibility is upheld is also commendable. In acting, Naserudin Shah'z performance is a completely different take from Kamal'z and therefore a comparison becomes impossible. However, Anupam Kher'z performance comes a distant second to Mohanlal'z solid presence. Very few movies give good actors roles where everything is going for them - this is definitely one such for Mohanlal. Unlike the saintly Kher whose every word is treated with reverence, Mohanlal has so many practical difficulties despite his apparent unlimited power. UPO fails to deliver with the other actors though - everyone (from the terrorist to the newsperson) doing a half-cooked job. Lakshmi is an exceptional choice who shines in her brief but powerful role (which was not present in the original).
So, the final verdict on UPO is that it is a perfect remake. In the sense, that it was a movie which took the original as a starting point to improve upon, perfect and most importantly, bringing it home to a different audience, tailoring the product to their tastes. It is heartening to know such an effort is possible in a remake, particularly in a time where remakes are diminutive, grotesque bastard children (like Ghajini from Memento). Having said that, I do hope that Kamal'z next is an original script where he contributes to the source rather than developing an already established format. So, until then! cheers!!!
UPDATE!!!! (4th November 09)
A friend of mine sends an opinion of his friend on the movie. I take the liberty of publishing my response as a part of the blog...
Thanx lenny for bringin my attention to this article. the followingreply is to that girl with a name so common tat every one in two kidshave it; male or female. go ahead and laugh at my vitriolicresponse!!! guhuhaahahaahah....
the speaker sums up my point of view in the title of her blog.basically the jobless. enough already! i am tired of people walkinginto a chinese restaurant and crying that they re hindu brahmins whoare offended at the pork-making and cow-killings! nw again, thisspeaker will definitely pick up a fight with Spielberg, for when hemade the movie Schindler's List, how dare he showed that the jews werepersecuted. is tat not an organized way of defaming the germans?particularly when the Jews are no good themselves.. did they notmurder in cold blood the messaih, Jesus Christ himself?!! FOR FUCK'SSAKE! lets have some perspective here. when i am making a film with aspecific story in mind, i cannot tackle everything about theparticular aspect i am talking about. if you feel so strongly aboutit, go make a movie yourself. doesnt take much more than a videocamera. Paranormal has proved it. but let the politics of technologygo to hell for the while. i have a couple of questions. so how SHOULDthe Indian-Muslim be portrayed? or should it be Muslim-Indian? if heshould neither be a terrorist nor a patriot, what other roles shouldthere be for the PERSON? by the way you talk about it, he should be,first of all, a she. Good, i can deal with that; for we are the samepeople who whistled at Angelina Jolie kicking a variety of machoasses. but wait! let me check my necessity for an ass-kicking specimento be the protagonist of the story.. or even my presumptousness tothink that the person has to be a protagonist at all. how dare I!? So,this person should not be shown tackling their daily problems theyencounter because they re a VICTIMIZED group. so the movie should moreor less cover the three hours of a Muslim female who has a pleasantlife, doing whater she likes doing. and where is the story?
at this point, i want to let ur friend knw, tat unfortunately, we areall part of a conventional world where telling a story is still thepoint of a movie. oh crap.! when did that disaster happen?! so re utelling me tat no matter how politically incorrect a movie is, it canstill be a movie?!?!?! seriously, dudette, get a life. OF COURSE BenHur is a movie; despite having kicked half the horses in their buxombutts. if animal rights has a problem with it, tat.z exactly wat itmeans - animal rights has a problem with it. IT CANNOT BECOME ANY LESSOF A MOVIE, BECAUSE OF SOMEONE HAVING A PROBLEM WITH IT! so ya, if youaint down with that, i ve got two words for u.! watch it?! :P
cheers lenny. may the force be with you. n btw, let ur friend knowtat i am all game to defend the Jedis, if she thinks that they are atraditionalist rebellion against the great democratic force of theempire!
11 August 2009
Who's afraid of swine flu?
Two million people in the next two years...
Thousands dead. Thousands infected.
Say hello to the next Kala bandar.
Be afraid; be very very afraid.
Everyday, you wake up, and get the feeling that if you want to live a happier life, you probably should not read the newspapers. Fears, both imagined and real are treated with the same excitement, that the idea of news gets cluttered. Is it a fear-porn which makes us feel safer with the troubles faced by our fellow humans? By knowing that seven died in a different city, are we consoling that our own city has had just one victim? Yes, my dissenters are already compiling their response speech. I will be called as a suffocator of free speech and a violator of the fourth estate. Maybe, but I do not care much for their opinions. So, what am I trying to say? That the media is creating un-truths as news? No; but I am convinced that the prioritization of news is aimed at creating a mass hysteria, keeping the people in a constant state of fear and making sure that there is only one direction towards salvation. Think of the past three years, and tell me, if one world-threatening situation was not replaced by the next... Taliban, SARS, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Chicken Flu, Anthony Bordain Flu, Will Smith Flu... The list is rather impressive. We are not told the how of the disease. We are not informed about the do's and the don'ts. What we are reminded of constantly, are the reassurances of safety from the Central and the State governments, the allegations of negligence from the opposing parties, the sting operations from TV news channels which expose our incapacity to handle the situation. Oh, come on! Of course we are incapable of handling the situation. We have an irresponsible media which keeps a bodycount much similar to the way sporting-event scores are updated. Ultimately, only the urban population which watches an English TV news channel, gets half an idea of what they are up against. Suddenly the politics of who went to which country and the route of infection is more important than the message of PREVENTION, CURE and VACCINATION.
No, we do not need that. The more people die, the better TRP ratings.
I am not trying to slight the seriousness of the scenario. Many have fallen prey to this virus and we are told that unfortunately, many more will. But that does not mean we should be afraid to live our lives. In times of great adversity, has risen our greatest epics. A war is always followed by better human perspective. The Great War showed us our infinite capacity for hope, that we even started another. The plague of Black Death was followed by the Renaissance. The polio vaccine was invented years before the last child suffered from it. It does not matter. What matters is how you get up and keep going. The toughest of life's lessons has been expounded by Sylvester Stallone in an often made fun of movie, Rocky Balboa (yes, the sixth part!) where he tells his son, It does not matter how hard you can hit... It is about how hard you can get hit and still keep going forward. Never backing down, but getting up back on your feet and pushing the line. Stallone is right. Give us a while. We will push ourselves back on our feet and do that in style. If not for this attitude, we would not have survived a good forty thousand years, despite our hardier skinned cousins, the neandrathals and the brainier bunch of cousins, whose name I do not seem to remember. We are survivors. We are not the fastest, strongest or the highest... We are the fittest.
If you do not believe in this, shut yourself in your house and wait for doomsday. The others, hoot a cheers to life. Do not give up your inner strength, just because somebody has a statistic saying that there is a fifty seven percent chance that such a thing called inner strength is improbable. Keep walking. The dawn is near. A new day is around the corner.
Thousands dead. Thousands infected.
Say hello to the next Kala bandar.
Be afraid; be very very afraid.
Everyday, you wake up, and get the feeling that if you want to live a happier life, you probably should not read the newspapers. Fears, both imagined and real are treated with the same excitement, that the idea of news gets cluttered. Is it a fear-porn which makes us feel safer with the troubles faced by our fellow humans? By knowing that seven died in a different city, are we consoling that our own city has had just one victim? Yes, my dissenters are already compiling their response speech. I will be called as a suffocator of free speech and a violator of the fourth estate. Maybe, but I do not care much for their opinions. So, what am I trying to say? That the media is creating un-truths as news? No; but I am convinced that the prioritization of news is aimed at creating a mass hysteria, keeping the people in a constant state of fear and making sure that there is only one direction towards salvation. Think of the past three years, and tell me, if one world-threatening situation was not replaced by the next... Taliban, SARS, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Chicken Flu, Anthony Bordain Flu, Will Smith Flu... The list is rather impressive. We are not told the how of the disease. We are not informed about the do's and the don'ts. What we are reminded of constantly, are the reassurances of safety from the Central and the State governments, the allegations of negligence from the opposing parties, the sting operations from TV news channels which expose our incapacity to handle the situation. Oh, come on! Of course we are incapable of handling the situation. We have an irresponsible media which keeps a bodycount much similar to the way sporting-event scores are updated. Ultimately, only the urban population which watches an English TV news channel, gets half an idea of what they are up against. Suddenly the politics of who went to which country and the route of infection is more important than the message of PREVENTION, CURE and VACCINATION.
No, we do not need that. The more people die, the better TRP ratings.
I am not trying to slight the seriousness of the scenario. Many have fallen prey to this virus and we are told that unfortunately, many more will. But that does not mean we should be afraid to live our lives. In times of great adversity, has risen our greatest epics. A war is always followed by better human perspective. The Great War showed us our infinite capacity for hope, that we even started another. The plague of Black Death was followed by the Renaissance. The polio vaccine was invented years before the last child suffered from it. It does not matter. What matters is how you get up and keep going. The toughest of life's lessons has been expounded by Sylvester Stallone in an often made fun of movie, Rocky Balboa (yes, the sixth part!) where he tells his son, It does not matter how hard you can hit... It is about how hard you can get hit and still keep going forward. Never backing down, but getting up back on your feet and pushing the line. Stallone is right. Give us a while. We will push ourselves back on our feet and do that in style. If not for this attitude, we would not have survived a good forty thousand years, despite our hardier skinned cousins, the neandrathals and the brainier bunch of cousins, whose name I do not seem to remember. We are survivors. We are not the fastest, strongest or the highest... We are the fittest.
If you do not believe in this, shut yourself in your house and wait for doomsday. The others, hoot a cheers to life. Do not give up your inner strength, just because somebody has a statistic saying that there is a fifty seven percent chance that such a thing called inner strength is improbable. Keep walking. The dawn is near. A new day is around the corner.
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