Recently the bill proposing 33% reservation for women in the parliament and in state assemblies was passed in the upper house "Rajya sabha" amidst lot of hue and cry from some of the political parties. There is some criticism that women can not handle the bonhomie of politics and will easily succumb to the inherent pressures and hence will be ineffective. Well, looking back at the track record of our male politicians in the last 63 years, I believe that women can certainly do better than male politicians. Even if they turn out to be worse than their male counter parts it doesn't get bad than the current situation. Then what harm is there in giving them a chance to take a shot at politics? At least women can get to make their presence in terms of numbers. To put it crassly, at least the glam quotient of politics would increase if this bill becomes an act. :-)
But if we go by the track record of general reservation over the past few decades it is evident that eventhough it has uplifted a lot of people from socially and economically deprived sections of the society, there's been a gross misuse of this. This time if we make sure to minimise the misuse part to a bare minimum then this bill would certainly be a landmark in the evolution of Indian democracy. For that to happen there is one more test in the lower house of parliament which I am eagerly waiting for.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Oscars scoop!!!!
Ealier last month I made 6 predictions for this year's oscars. Out of 6 only one came true, i.e, best supporting actor for Christopher Waltz and out of the technical categories only best visual effects went to Avatar. Best sound and sound mixing went to Hurt locker. This shows that there is still scope for improvement in recognising the true talent: for the academy of course :-).
For best adapted screenplay I expected "Up in the air" would win. But it went to "Precious". For best score I wanted "Sherlock Holmes" to win but went to "Up" the animation movie. But the most prized awards of best picture and best director went to "The Hurt locker" and its director "Katherine bigelow". As per the PST, on the eve of Women's day the academy would have felt somewhat sentimental and relevant to give those awards to a woman director and to her picture. This is the first instance in the history of 82 years of oscars that a woman has walked away with the best director oscar.(Imagine, we are in the 63rd year of independent India!)
But I wish to take this scoop in my stride and sincerely wish that the academy will pull up their socks and try to reach my standard! :-)
For best adapted screenplay I expected "Up in the air" would win. But it went to "Precious". For best score I wanted "Sherlock Holmes" to win but went to "Up" the animation movie. But the most prized awards of best picture and best director went to "The Hurt locker" and its director "Katherine bigelow". As per the PST, on the eve of Women's day the academy would have felt somewhat sentimental and relevant to give those awards to a woman director and to her picture. This is the first instance in the history of 82 years of oscars that a woman has walked away with the best director oscar.(Imagine, we are in the 63rd year of independent India!)
But I wish to take this scoop in my stride and sincerely wish that the academy will pull up their socks and try to reach my standard! :-)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Sex, lies and Ashrams!
A few days ago there was a breaking news in all the news channels about a god-man who was in the eye of a sex scandal. There were even pictures showing him in a compromising position with an actress and that news is still breaking!!!!! Gone are the days when people looked for either a hotel room or a bush or some other means to get hooked. They realised that it costs money and err.. is not convenient, you know? Here comes into the picture, the power of thinking. The purpose of physical fling, to put it decently is to have a good time. You can not have a good time if there is disturbance and distraction all around you. So what would one do to have a peaceful environment? He would either go to a temple or to an ashram. This is what the priests are doing, but the former had already been occupied by a priest from Kaanchipuram.Most of us are aware of the video showing the divine banging act :-). Poor fellow, this second priest is left with no choice but to use the second option and that is the Ashram.
Actually I find no wrong in it and I am surprised why everybody is making such a haullaballo over this one. Actually this highlights the devotion of these guys and how religious they are. Whatever they do in their lives they want to involve Him. Actually that's a good thing. :-)
Some one said that "women need a reason to have sex, whereas men just need a place." Oh boy! they did find a place! The ashrams, the sanctum sanctorum inside the temples. The only concern for me out of this brouhaha is henceforth if anybody says that they are going to a temple or to an ashram what would be our imagination?
Shame, shame puppy shame!!!!
Actually I find no wrong in it and I am surprised why everybody is making such a haullaballo over this one. Actually this highlights the devotion of these guys and how religious they are. Whatever they do in their lives they want to involve Him. Actually that's a good thing. :-)
Some one said that "women need a reason to have sex, whereas men just need a place." Oh boy! they did find a place! The ashrams, the sanctum sanctorum inside the temples. The only concern for me out of this brouhaha is henceforth if anybody says that they are going to a temple or to an ashram what would be our imagination?
Shame, shame puppy shame!!!!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Up in the air!
There are few actors, whose voice I have admired for some time. Some of them are Robin williams, Josh hartnet, Matt damon, Heath ledger, Alan rickman and George clooney. Besides his appearance Clooney's voice is certainly a strong aspect of his personality and he puts it to maximum effect in this movie "Up in the air". This movie starts with a sound track that sounds almost similar to Sade's "Smooth operator" and proceeds at a leisure pace.
It gives you the feel that you have peeked into the protagonist's life for about two hours. His initial state; his lifestyle his views about love,marriage and life etc all are presented in a nutshell right at the beginning of the movie with excellent blend of visuals and his voice over. He is a guy who is disinclined towards any sort of commitment and vehemently vouches for it. In this scenario in comes two characters (of course they are ladies) who are like poles apart in their approach to life. One is a young girl who joins the same firm as that of George clooney and the second one is a middle aged woman who develops a casual relationship with him. All three's expectations, aspirations and emotions travel through a maze in which their careers their social equations all go for a toss. The beauty is all the above are set against the backdrop of the recession hit economy.
No where this movie is judgmental nor patronising. It beautifully depicts the inertia inside one's mind towards change and in subsequent frames the pain and agony associated with that change. The dialogues are top notch and if I were an important member of the academy I would certainly handover the golden statuette for best adapted screenplay to whoever the screen writer is. Though the situations are neither extraordinary nor unexpected, the dialogues and acting take all the scenes onto to a different plane. In the end though it doesn't have a conventional ending, one would have got a fair idea of what the movie was all about "Change". It leaves us where we come to realise the changes in the lives of the characters till then and then accepting that their lives will again change subsequently even after the end credits roll. In a nutshell no adrenaline pumping action, no over the top reactions but excellent concoction of emotion and present society's aberrations.(TR's touch. How is it?)
Verdict: Wanna bitter, sweet feeling? Watch this!!!
It gives you the feel that you have peeked into the protagonist's life for about two hours. His initial state; his lifestyle his views about love,marriage and life etc all are presented in a nutshell right at the beginning of the movie with excellent blend of visuals and his voice over. He is a guy who is disinclined towards any sort of commitment and vehemently vouches for it. In this scenario in comes two characters (of course they are ladies) who are like poles apart in their approach to life. One is a young girl who joins the same firm as that of George clooney and the second one is a middle aged woman who develops a casual relationship with him. All three's expectations, aspirations and emotions travel through a maze in which their careers their social equations all go for a toss. The beauty is all the above are set against the backdrop of the recession hit economy.
No where this movie is judgmental nor patronising. It beautifully depicts the inertia inside one's mind towards change and in subsequent frames the pain and agony associated with that change. The dialogues are top notch and if I were an important member of the academy I would certainly handover the golden statuette for best adapted screenplay to whoever the screen writer is. Though the situations are neither extraordinary nor unexpected, the dialogues and acting take all the scenes onto to a different plane. In the end though it doesn't have a conventional ending, one would have got a fair idea of what the movie was all about "Change". It leaves us where we come to realise the changes in the lives of the characters till then and then accepting that their lives will again change subsequently even after the end credits roll. In a nutshell no adrenaline pumping action, no over the top reactions but excellent concoction of emotion and present society's aberrations.(TR's touch. How is it?)
Verdict: Wanna bitter, sweet feeling? Watch this!!!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The run machine!
Sports history was made yesterday when our Sachin tendulkar made an unbeaten 200* in a ODI. Since then everywhere it has been a festive atmosphere. It appeared that everybody won a million rupees in jackpot. It's one of those occasions where more than the person who achieves a feat, the persons surrounding him, or the persons who know him feel happier hovering on the verge of ecstasy. Well one more case where the pursuit of excellence resulted in what was thought to be an unattainable success. What is it that makes everybody from the President of India to a coffee boy in my office to take pride in an achievement which is not of their own? What makes an entire nation as diverse as ours, forget all their troubles ranging from an irritating boss to Indo-Pak border dispute to revel in a sense of achievement in unison? I tend to believe that we are happy more when someone achieves something extraordinary than something really good happening to us. Now this is an enigma which needs to be unraveled.
It seems that achievements like the one which Sachin accomplished, shows what sincerity, hard work, determination and endurance can achieve whatever is humanly achievable, thus by pushing further the horizons of human potential. This instills strength and a sense of hope that one can do greater things if one sticks to ones passion and sincerely try to attain it. Sachin's achievement is not 200 runs but showcasing the fruits of qualities such as sincerity, hard work, determination and endurance and giving us hope that something can be achieved and instilling strength within us to achieve the same. These qualities are neither limited to any particular field nor by any age bar. This is the secret why the president of India and the office boy from my office could both relate to. This is how this enigma has been unraveled. :-)
It seems that achievements like the one which Sachin accomplished, shows what sincerity, hard work, determination and endurance can achieve whatever is humanly achievable, thus by pushing further the horizons of human potential. This instills strength and a sense of hope that one can do greater things if one sticks to ones passion and sincerely try to attain it. Sachin's achievement is not 200 runs but showcasing the fruits of qualities such as sincerity, hard work, determination and endurance and giving us hope that something can be achieved and instilling strength within us to achieve the same. These qualities are neither limited to any particular field nor by any age bar. This is the secret why the president of India and the office boy from my office could both relate to. This is how this enigma has been unraveled. :-)
Friday, February 19, 2010
What a life!!!!
Ever contemplated how our lives are shaping up? Ever given a thought about the path we are treading? Ever wondered where all those years after we graduated have gone? Recently I indulged in this endeavour of trying to answer these questions. Don't ask me if I have that much free time. That's another topic altogether. Coming back to those questions, I got lost in thought while I was thinking (ofcourse it's an uncharted territory. What else do you expect? :-). Some time later lot of random thoughts flooded my mind. It seemed they are all random at first glance, but after carefully revisiting them made me realise one essential but always neglected and ignored fact which is our uncanny inclination to stress, strain and sorrow or in other words our reluctance to be content, happy and peaceful. I guess our approach to life is fundamentally wrong. I will tell you why.
Normally we think with our brains and act with our hearts not realising that it should be the other way round. Let me give an example. We can consider our own careers. In school days we would have had some idea of what we want to become in our lives, which career to pursue etc. This is what our hearts want. We should have directed all our efforts towards achieving it. But in no time that gets suppressed. We start to think with our brains like which job would give me a good salary? how much salary is enough to manage my family, to repay my EMI? and compel our hearts to set into that mould. From that point onwards it's a downward spiral in our lives with all the uncontrollable emotions taking control of the rest of our lives. We start working because we have to and not because we want to. There's a name for the one who has to work irrespective of his or her willingness or under compulsion, and that name is 'slave'. We drag our lives working, because we have to and not because we want to.
The moment we stop working like slaves and begin working like masters, that's the moment worth spending our lives for. For that too we have to work. But as Swami Vivekananda says "Work is seldom sweet. It's only when love greases its wheels that it runs smoothly. It's a constant friction otherwise". So it's better to work like a master, relax a moment, replenish our vital resources with love that doesn't cost a thing and get back to work, because there's nothing else for us to do in here. If we get this right, it could well make us shout "What a life!" at the end of our physical lives.
Normally we think with our brains and act with our hearts not realising that it should be the other way round. Let me give an example. We can consider our own careers. In school days we would have had some idea of what we want to become in our lives, which career to pursue etc. This is what our hearts want. We should have directed all our efforts towards achieving it. But in no time that gets suppressed. We start to think with our brains like which job would give me a good salary? how much salary is enough to manage my family, to repay my EMI? and compel our hearts to set into that mould. From that point onwards it's a downward spiral in our lives with all the uncontrollable emotions taking control of the rest of our lives. We start working because we have to and not because we want to. There's a name for the one who has to work irrespective of his or her willingness or under compulsion, and that name is 'slave'. We drag our lives working, because we have to and not because we want to.
The moment we stop working like slaves and begin working like masters, that's the moment worth spending our lives for. For that too we have to work. But as Swami Vivekananda says "Work is seldom sweet. It's only when love greases its wheels that it runs smoothly. It's a constant friction otherwise". So it's better to work like a master, relax a moment, replenish our vital resources with love that doesn't cost a thing and get back to work, because there's nothing else for us to do in here. If we get this right, it could well make us shout "What a life!" at the end of our physical lives.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Love is in the air!
This may seem a bit late to talk about love; 3 days after the Valentine's day, but as I believe any time is a good time to talk about love if not to show it. Moreover there's this saying that everything is fair in love and war, in which I would like to consider only the former one, letting myself to be deliberately ignorant of the later part.
When one hears the word "Love" one usually associates it with the relationship between a man and a woman who are romantically inclined. All other forms of love either don't make it to the top of our charts or worse, we simply ignore. So more in line with the current context of Valentine's day, let's delve deep into this form of love.
In my opinion this form of love is primarily due to the result of biological programming in all living things of this world. It's like a timer which gets enabled the time one is born with an "if" condition that gets activated at the age of either 15 or 16 or in some cases of early bloomers at 12 or 13 itself. The "code" that follows this "If" condition is what this love is all about. One may assert that this is not love but either infatuation or physical attraction. I beg to differ because when a construction is built it's called a building or a house or whatever including the foundation. Similarly the foundations of physical attraction on which this love is built is love nevertheless. For a healthy relationship, if we convert this into a love to attraction ratio, wise people, lucky people succeed in increasing the numerator continuously. With such a scenario it doesn't matter even if the denominator shrinks let alone stagnate. Hence even a complex and abstract emotion such as love can be converted into a logical mathematical equation. Now it becomes easier to understand it. :-). Whatever variables that are involved in it have to be worked out on a case to case basis.
In the end one may argue, why one should love at all? why one should bear the brunt of possible love failure and the throes of pain and anguish associated with it. For all those skeptics I would like to quote Alfred Tennyson. "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all".
When one hears the word "Love" one usually associates it with the relationship between a man and a woman who are romantically inclined. All other forms of love either don't make it to the top of our charts or worse, we simply ignore. So more in line with the current context of Valentine's day, let's delve deep into this form of love.
In my opinion this form of love is primarily due to the result of biological programming in all living things of this world. It's like a timer which gets enabled the time one is born with an "if" condition that gets activated at the age of either 15 or 16 or in some cases of early bloomers at 12 or 13 itself. The "code" that follows this "If" condition is what this love is all about. One may assert that this is not love but either infatuation or physical attraction. I beg to differ because when a construction is built it's called a building or a house or whatever including the foundation. Similarly the foundations of physical attraction on which this love is built is love nevertheless. For a healthy relationship, if we convert this into a love to attraction ratio, wise people, lucky people succeed in increasing the numerator continuously. With such a scenario it doesn't matter even if the denominator shrinks let alone stagnate. Hence even a complex and abstract emotion such as love can be converted into a logical mathematical equation. Now it becomes easier to understand it. :-). Whatever variables that are involved in it have to be worked out on a case to case basis.
In the end one may argue, why one should love at all? why one should bear the brunt of possible love failure and the throes of pain and anguish associated with it. For all those skeptics I would like to quote Alfred Tennyson. "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all".
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