Not very cricketing Memories, Success and Dreams (MSD)

May 1999- My joint-family and I were traveling by train to Vaishno Devi. We were crossing Punjab when our co-passengers asked us where we were from. We replied Ranchi and they said Karachi suna hai, Ranchi kithhe hai? (We have heard about Karachi, where's Ranchi?) 

 Apr-2000 - Ranchi was still in undivided Bihar. I had to travel again, all the way to Mumbai for a quiz. Few passengers in the train and fellow quizzers at BQC did mention how Ranchi had lovely weather, good education in eastern India, movement for independent state and a psychiatric hospital. 

 

Summer 2004-  The local media used to cover Dhoni,an emerging player in the sports section. My brother had shown me his pictures in the local newspapers and told me that he generally visits his sister, Jayanti and his brother-in-law who used to stay in the flat opposite ours. I remember seeing a guy with long locks come in and out nonchalantly and recognized him as Dhoni. Still, no attention by the passers -by. 

Oct/Nov 2004- I remember watching that India A vs Kenya match in September 2004 on TV. My brother and grandfather were quite excited when Dhoni batted well. There was hope that he will play for the international squad in the forthcoming tour of Bangladesh. My then school JVM Shyamali had invited him for a brief felicitation as he was an alumnus. I remember that day in school assembly. MSD at one point even chuckled with his head down, as the teacher was praising him. Ironically, his cricketing talent was being lauded in front of 700 students who were preparing for IIT JEEs and Medical entrance exams.      

                                 

 May 2005 - One afternoon my grandmother was irritated by a sonorous revving noise coming from somewhere. My grandmother and I rushed out to the balcony to see what it was. We saw a guy with long tinted hair on a red superbike, revving it on an uphill slope almost waking up the entire vicinity. This was after he had scored his 148 against Pakistan. People were happy to see him and I am sure he was flaunting his new bike and wanted us to notice him. He was definitely being noticed by onlookers but no one was hurrying to him for autographs. It must have been around this time,that Dhoni's parents shifted from a small quarter in Mecon colony to a larger bungalow, which now had security guards outside. I remember riding my cycle and going for morning walks and walking past his house.

2007 - Dhoni's brilliant performances on field started getting him global attention.

Most of my relatives who would visit us from outside wanted to see his new house and we were happy to show them by driving around that place. 

While the world cup earlier that year was far from encouraging, T20 turned out to be exhilarating. It was a very stormy evening in Ranchi with many areas out of electricity and streets with uprooted trees. Even as it was raining it couldn't dampen the noise of crackers bursting in the town on that September night when India had won the T20 world cup and MSD had lifted the trophy. After this victory, when he visited his sister, I was not at home, but was told that he was mobbed by our neighbouring aunties and kids. He obliged them with pictures and autographs. Phones were not selfie-pixel enabled then, as someone recalls getting his autograph.

2008 - We got a new car and dad drove us 60 km away to a temple in a village that shot into fame because that's the temple Dhoni usually visited.

 If you have ever travelled between Ranchi and Jamshedpur you would have noticed a temple next to the highway. It is said that Dhoni would go and pray and take blessings of the Goddess Devri each time he reached a milestone in his career.The small shops around that temple in the village of Tamar have his pictures praying at the temple. It is an example of how a celebrity can boost the economy of a little known tribal village.

2009- I went for another college quiz in a different state, and this time when I had to introduce where I was from. 

I simply said "I am from Ranchi, Dhoni's land".

 

2009 onwards - As they say the rest is history 

Dhoni brought small town talent to the forefront. EY termed "Dhoni Effect"  as an increasing trend in consumerism outside metros that marketers were not able to keep pace with. Ranchi got its cricket stadium. MSD retired from international cricket. While we see the best of talent leave small towns, MSD still calls Ranchi home, spending time in his sprawling farm house. As we all know, he is different.

WATCH THE MATCH, WHILE THE AD GOES MAD

You were watching India vs Pakistan with the entire country yesterday and so where a thousand marketeers. The  rush for advertisement slots in yesterday's match would have been another behind the scene battle. But we all know who won the advertisement slot battle.
 Yes! Airtel with its deluge of  4G commercials.

 Once in a while comes a brand ambassador out of nowhere yet makes an impact
 that remains etched in  public memory for years.
I remember the Rasna gal with the famous one liner " I love you Rasna" .

There was this Dhara lad who would brighten up on seeing Jalebi.

Apple Singh during the 1999 world cup made Sudhir Mishra famous.
Then we have our favourite  Amul girl who is a caricature and hence ageless.
Now talking about the Airtel 4g girl.
I have come across many people who find her irritating.
But here is what would have made marketeers go ahead with the brand's latest ad campaign.

1)  Airtel and Taproot have zeroed in on a face that is different. Had they hired a celebrity, say Katrina/ Deepika  the result  would have been high endorsement fee and a  face that doesn't remain unique to the brand.Sasha Chhetri on the other hand is the short haired, young ,unconventional model who will distinctly catch the audience's attention even if people find her too loud.

2) Yes!! she is chatty and talks a lot. In her latest TV commercial she is described as someone who goes Yak! Yak! Yak!
   But that is exactly what a mobile phone operator would  want us to do . Chat! Chat! Chat!
   She over-communicates so that she remains in your memory. That's what Ads want out of you.

3) She is smart, cute ,confident and unapologetic. This is what brand ambassadors need to be.
Love her or hate her, but there's no denial to the fact that airtel 4G gal has taken the TV ad space by storm.

Sasha may go on to get more endorsements but she will  always remain the Airtel 4G girl for years to come. We still haven't forgotten ZooZoos of Vodafone or the Hutch puppy. This endorsement deal has helped airtel create the 4g noise. How far will Airtel gain or lose is what Marketeers need to see.
As far as the network coverage in hinterland is concerned advertise it the way you want but I have an airtel 3G connection and I see every reason why TRAI has asked telecom operators to answer on call drops.

The Dark Side of Leadership

Transcript of my CC#6 at Toastmasters International

Toastmasters is a place where leaders are made. We all aspire to be leaders . Our generation is obsessed with the word leadership . It starts right from our schools and I am not talking about Bschools but primary schools.

   As a young girl in my school I would always be made the monitor of the class  because my teachers thought I had “leadership qualities”.Of course I could bully, shout and ask others to shut up. It was only in class 10th when my school wanted me to be the head girl that I went up to my teacher and said that I don’t want to be one. Why did I do that? No I don’t claim to be a saint to deny the coveted position. You could say that I was not ready to take that responsibility at the cost of my studies. Well, here’s a funny thing. History has had several examples of such people. Albert Einstein rejected the offer of being made the head of state of Israel.Didn’t Sachin Tendulkar , the God of cricket do the same? As Richie Benaud summed it up , “ Captaincy and performance are two different talents, and Sachin didn’t have the former”. Did that make Sachin any less of a person. If you have not been a leader,it doesn’t mean you are a loser .

      All leaders have not been role models. Remember Hitler, Polpot , Bin Laden . These personalities were cult leaders in their own way with thousands of followers behind them, but are they the best examples?

  A lot has been researched on the financial crisis of 2008 and how the leadership in the US  investment  banking sector failed and spurred the recession. And let me tell you while millions became homeless and jobless, the leaders who made it happen never took responsibility of it.

     Which brings me to question the dark side of leadership. The often less talked about subject . So what are the negative traits that one is susceptible as he aspires to be  leader?

Machiavellianism

Machiavellianism is characterized by manipulative tactics.These principles were first outlined by Niccolo Machiavelli, a rennaissance author in his book The Prince . It talks about ways to get things done, by use of  immoral or deceptive methods . Therefore, individuals who exhibit Machiavellianism will lie, and exploit others to get their way.Machiavelli described dishonesty and killing innocents, as being normal and effective in politics. When Machiavellianism awakens then the leader is not collaborative. He thinks he is smarter than the rest. There's no originality or vision. Often ,he starts marking territories. There were a lot of examples in the Mahabharat. Shakuni,Duryodhana and some even say that even Lord Krishna in the battlefield  was no less of a Machiavelli. ,Aurangzeb who conflicted his brother Dara and imprisoned his father Shah Jahan. Chanakya has been described a predecessor to Machiavelli.

Psychopathy

Psychopathy is not just a characteristic of serial killers. Industrial studies by Babiak and Hare in their book Snakes in Suits state that 3.5 per cent of top executives score highly on measures of psychopathy, which is larger than the 1 per cent found in the general population.Individuals high on psychopathy show little remorse and empathy for others. They use threats and hard tactics to get status and get ahead. These “snakes in suits” may thrive in organizations because society often promotes self-interest over other values.So high is their drive to prove themselves right on parameters that many a times might not even be important. Many such leaders don't trust their subordinates /colleagues and keep micro-managing. They don’t communicate openly and prefer that people around fear them. They are angry individuals. I remember this one time a colleague told the boss that he had to rush home as his father was in Emergency. What did the boss say? You better finish your work first.

Narcissism

Narcissists have extremely inflated views of themselves, with grandiose plans for their future. They feel they are more special than others and constantly seek admiration. When narcissism gets a hold , your self aggrandizement is the only thing you think about. You only focus on your promotion, on your image at work and elsewhere. Many a times you hide your subordinates achievements and brush him/her under the carpet because after all YOU made it happen. There is little humility.Narcissicist  would hide their flaws,poor skills and pretend it doesn't exist.

Overconfidence

“Act as if you have unmatched confidence and then people will surely have confidence in you,” says Jordan Belfort in his book The Wolf of Wall Street. This is sad but true. Individuals who exemplify overconfidence are better able to influence others and gain their trust.But this show is not long lasting,because one day the glittering gold goes off its sheen.True confidence comes from self-awareness, understanding and managing our emotional state, managing others' emotional state positively . When we're comfortable in our own skin, we're a magnet for success.

At times overconfidence penetrates into organisation culture.these days many organisation have started encouraging excessively positive thinking that can have bad consequences as well.. Admissions of failure and expressions of doubt have been actively discouraged in favour of highly excessively positive thinking . Research on two North Sea oil installations, for example, found that despite senior management’s upbeat demand for transparency about the company’s safety performance, many offshore workers did not disclose accidents and near misses because they thought their managers would not like “ not positive news” .Being positive is indeed transformational,it facilitates innovation and enhances teamwork but real picture should also be appreciated. More effective leadership dynamics are likely to emerge when optimism is combined with critical thinking and  willingness to confront difficult realities .

So, How does knowing about the dark side of leadership help us?

It starts within each of us, the dark side of leadership is not an external issue but an internal one. This may cause leadership to be short-sighted, stressful and full of bloat rather than value. As Shakespeare said “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown”. So watch out else the crown might just fall off

40tude

It had been a while since I had travelled to the city. Staying in the small town where I know all the locations like the back of my hand hardly gives me the chance of using the google maps or taking the public transport.It would have been 12 noon. I took the metro from ChandniChowk to Maidan. I got down at Maidan metro ,took the metro plaza shortcut to Camac. Waited at Jyoti Vihar which was crowded being a Sunday afternoon. Chucked the idea of South Indian lunch and instead bought fruits from the baba downstairs. As I crossed the US embassy, I could feel the tenacity of observation by the security forces. They were corresponding on walkie talkies. It had been only 4 days to Paris attacks. Security definitely would have been on high alert.One even followed me shortly.  A lone woman in salwar suit wearing shades was definitely a profile suspect. Funny though I thought to myself.  I had ventured out  late in the Kolkata noon and reached Westside. Ah! the joy of a starved  shopper. Ever wondered what gazing at the colours of dresses in a variety of cuts makes us feel? It's  soulful and blissful to a woman much like that whisky on the ice blocs is for a man. To each his/her own temptation.
     Little did I realise that it was time for me to get ready and rush back to the hotel.It was already 4.My train would leave at 5:30pm. I called out to a few taxies asking them to take me to the United Bank,near Dalhousie square. Initial few didn't get the location. At last an old uncle got it. He asked me to sit. I hopped and asked him to hurry. At the next signal somewhere near Park, it appeared. I have always been wary of Hijras. They get me $#!t scared. The yellow old taxi did not have powered windows. The Hijra had inserted his hands through the gaping open space in the half pulled down window and was touching my purse and asking me to depart from 100 Rs in my bag. I said I didn't have 100. I said I wouldn't pay more than 40.(I know that's lousy bargaining) He said "Give me 100, I'll give you change" I was looking at the signal with a hope that it turns green and the taxi gets ready to leave. 20 more seconds left. Not willing to undergo any further confrontation I parted with 100 Rs and the Hijra indeed gave me 60 Rs back with a plethora of blessings for my future generations.
   After the signal turned green, my driver asked me in Bengali how much I gave the Hijra. I said 40 Rs. He went crazy. He said" Didi, that's way above his standard income from per person.  They should not be given more than 10 Rs. You should have asked me Didi ."
I told him I had no change.
 He said" I would have given you change worth 10. These Hijras get money for no work and here people like me work day and night and earn peanuts". He kept sulking remarking,"Every man has his fate and at times even Hijras". I snapped at him saying "Dada you should have intervened while he was trying to force his hands inside the car aiming for the money." He countered saying " Didi, I thought you would have given him 10 rupees and left him. That is what normal people in Kolkata do.Moreover I didn't get your Hindi"
  By this time I had reached my destination.
It was 4:30 and I had to rush for the station. The Taxi Driver clocked the meter. The meter had clocked 40 Rs. I handed him out 40 Rs. He smiled sheepishly.I knew why.

    I felt stupid at myself , angry at the Hijra and had mixed feeling for the taxi driver .

UN-AIDED

When Charlie Sheen recently revealed his HIV+ status, a lot of people were not surprised as Sheen was known for being an indulgent casanova.

However the media was abuzz with other cases of celebrities being HIV+ and how Isaac Asimov, Arthur Ash and Freddie Mercury had all died of AIDS.

Well,my knowledge of the disease was only limited to watching movies like Phir Milenge and Philadelphia.

Biology in school had made us aware of the 4 ways in which the virus could be passed on.

AIDS always felt like a distant disease in a distant planet.

     Until, last year when I got married. 

  We had moved in to a new locality and I was desperately seeking a domestic help.

  I asked a few people in the new neighborhood if they could recommend someone who could help me be more productive. Someone who could keep my house spick and span , cook and clean so that I could continue to add value to my work.

   Luckily I got Jharna(name changed) . She was introduced to me by a neighbor and I was indebted to my 

   neighbor for introducing me to someone who is generally a working woman's saviour.. 

  Of course a good maid is solution to half of world's problems. Jharna used to cater to the household chores and when I came home after work I could perch on the couch with a book to read.

   Jharna was the quiet types. She would reach on time in the morning and start off with her work. 

   I told her we were fitness enthusiasts and the food had to be no-oil or low-oil.  

  The tea had to be made with little sugar. 

  She had remarked ," That's the case in most of the houses I see".

   She had said that she would come each day except Sundays. She went to a church on Sunday.

   Though she was a born Hindu she had converted into christianity after her husband's death .

 She said that the parish priest's sermon had given her strength to fight the scourge of poverty and espoused

 her to raise her 4 children. What faith helps you achieve !

      

  I would manage to speak to her at times . It would entail rudimentary instructions as she was quite capable of understanding setups of the home.

 I had become very attuned to her work and she had become attuned to our home.

  I was driving one day from my office, when I got a call.

  I returned the call and it was from the same neighbour who had introduced me to Jharna

 She was extremely apologetic and she had called me to inform that she had recently come to know from others in the neighborhood.

 Jharna's husband had died of AIDS and that Jharna had also contracted the virus. 

Every Sunday she would goto the missionaries where she was treated with medicines.

 For a moment I was dumbfounded. To be honest my first reaction was , " What if I get infected? "

Knowing fully well that the disease was not contagious / infectious I still had goosebumps. Jharna had been with us for 3 months. 

We had shared the same air space. I started imagining, "What if she coughed and those droplets had the virus?" What if she had been cutting vegetables and her finger got injured while she must have been cooking. What if her sweat was all across the handles of my ladles and food equipments.

I tried to allay my fears and spoke to my husband about it.

His immediate reaction was," How do we help her?, Also how can I be so sure. After all it could be a hearsay"

       I decided to speak to Jharna directly on this one. It would be difficult as my neighbor had warned me that she shouldn't be quoted.

I asked Jharna the reason behind her coughs. She said it was normal cold. I asked if she was suffering from any serious disease and that I could help her.As  I was speaking to her I was scanning her from top to bottom trying to spot lesions that are symptomatic of AIDS but I found none.

Jharna stratight away declined that she suffered from no disease and drew my attention towards her thick hair which was an emblem of good health.

I was stuck to google to know more about the illness and its spread. I came across articles where in the US parents of a 3 year old,were charged a heavy fine just because they fired the baby sitter after coming to know that she was HIV+. My brother who is an avid story buff asked me to watch Dallas Buyers Club to know more about HIV+. I did. After researching a lot on the internet and after consulting a few doctor friends, I decided to continue with Jharna at our house. I had made peace with science and the fact that even if Jharna was HIV+ she would not pass on the virus . When I had narrated this incident to a couple of my friends they were a bit shocked that we were continuing with her. One of them stopped visiting us.

   A few months back Jharna left our home because she got a better paying job as a full time caretaker.

  I wished her all the best and thanked her from within as she made me challenge my conscience ,intellect and moral ground. 

  We live in an age where a lot of stigma is attached to people who are HIV+. What if the simple wife like Jharna  got it from her husband? What if that Jharna's daughter got the virus from her mother? What if the guy travelling in the train seated next to you got it through improper blood transfusion while battling in the war?

The deadly virus only hits you when you come to know of someone in your vicinity battling with it.

Not everyone is famous as Charlie Sheen. Some need our aid to battle it.

-- 

Friends Shipped

Mr. Neerav Singh Thakkar
        CEO 
   Skyline Vista

Read his visiting card. Neerav was standing against his balcony's marble balustrade sitting on his swing on that Sunday morning,glancing at his holographic visiting card. He was looking out for the Chief Secretary's card in his wallet that was handed over to him just a day back. Prompt as he had always been Neerav wanted to thank him back by writing an email. Meeting the Chief Minister was important to him . Neerav was glad he had pitched Skyline Vista's proposal to build the  biggest games village of the country. Even if he didn't bag the contract, such strategic alliances were important for the big businesses as Skyline Vista .
     Neerav tilted his visiting card,looking at it from left and right with a narcissistic pleasure. At 35, he was one of the youngest paid CEOs and he still had miles to go. After  sending the email to Chief Minister's office Neerav went onto login to the news portal. Funny that the news portal site had a pop up ad directing him to an e-comm site that had a special " Friendship's Day Sale on shoes and clothes".
   Neerav couldn't help but unleash his management thoughts.Skyline Vista hadn't roped in anything to flag  friendship's day digital marketing strategy. He understood that selling real estate to youngsters buying friendship bands wasn't the smartest thing to do. He would always analyse the customer sentiment and he did exactly that again. Would I be interested in buying property when I was 20- 25 years of age on Friendship's Day? Hell, No.
 That thought struck Neerav as a thunderbolt . What would I have done 10-15 years back on this day? A train of thoughts started running in his mind. While in college he would hang out with Adit, Smriti ,Madhav, Anushka and their gang. He remembered how they would play antakshari till late. He remembered how many times Madhav and he got drunk and Adit would be the last man standing taking them to their hostel rooms. Neerav had always been driven and there were instances when he had said no to outings as well; in order to prepare for the Business Plan competitions. Neerav and Adit shared a special camaraderie as they were both in the college swimming team. Madhav was the dude who would sing in the college rock band and had a huge fan following. Anushka always lent the group her class notes as she used to be the diligent topper. Smriti was the cynosure of everybody's eyes who was always busy texting to her long distance boyfriend. She was happy to be a part of the group as she felt comfortable being treated just like a friend with no suitors. Neerav remembered that one time in their party when Madhav was drunk to the hilt , confessing he really liked Smriti,while Smriti was equally drunk to make any sense out of it. All this leaving a smile on Neerav's face. A typical college life he had had. He was happy reminiscing those days.
   Just then Neerav's phone rang. It was still pattering on his balcony on 15th floor overlooking the Arabian Sea. Mumbai Rains, romantic as always. It was his wife. She told him that she would be spending her evening with her friends at the club. She had already asked the butler to look into Neerav's lunch requirements. Knowing fully well, that Neerav spent little time with family on Sundays and more on the golf course / gym sweatworking she didn't bother to ask Neerav about his leisure plans on Sunday. Neerav had mixed feelings. He knew he had more than 2000 contacts on his linkedin profile and thousands followers and friends on facebook. All he did day in and day out was  " networking" or euphemistically put "relationship building". He felt this void for the first time. He had his advisors,counselors , mentors, parents and family ; everyone one could call a support system but he had been missing something. The last time Adit had called Neerav,it was for some small favour which Neerav had even helped him with, but disconnected the call saying he was busy and would talk later. When Anushka got married and invited the gang to her wedding in Delhi, Neerav was on a business trip to UK. When Madhav released his first album and Neerav saw it on facebook, all he did was posted a thumbs up. When Smriti finished her PhD and sent the gang that touching email talking of her trials and tribulations in the academic research on "Condition of Indian Farmers:Ways to improve Policy in Agricultural Economy" Neerav commented saying she was on her way to becoming a leftist.
    He felt sorry today. He felt miserable for there was noone he could talk to and talk for no reason at all. There was no one who could just give him that yaaron wali gaali. Noone with whom he could just to go and have the roadside chai for kicks and share a hearty laugh. He didn't even remember the whatsapp group that was made to keep the 5 together because he hardly got time to check it. As he felt friendless he went towards the balcony's edge and drenched himself in rain.
"Yes, I am drifting apart from a lot of things",he thought .
Just then his cellphone beeped. He looked at it. The secretary said that Skyline Vista's proposal was being considered for further action. The ministry needed certain clarifications.
  Neerav went back to work thinking he would call Adit and the rest of the gang.

 

Moments in Maximum City

This city always leaves me in a tizzy. As a resident of small town , I admire the awesome aspects of this city and despise the aweful aspects as well. It's always great to be in the pulsating place called Mumbai . She is so full of life. She is so rich in culture. She hardly sleeps. She is so friendly and yet so professional. She is so expensive and I better not speak about the long commutation ,arduous train rides and long traffic jams. She is starry and yet so common man friendly . She is indeed Maximum with unlimited  mayhem and merriment.
   This time I happened to stop over at Prithvi theatre and cafe at Juhu.
The ambience of this kitschy open hangout  makes it a perfect place to hangout with your close friends and discuss matters of art that are close to your heart. It is also one places to spot the finest plays and dramas. And boy! I was lucky to meet none other than Mr. Shashi Kapoor who founded the theatre. He was accompanied by the amateur flautist Suhas Joshi who was mesmerising the people with his mellifluous flute

And here have I penned the experience of seeing the actor who recently won the DadaSahab Phalke Awards for his many a charming portrayals of character.
 He who immortalised the dialogue"Mere paas Ma hai" with a new found proclamation that was much more emotional than any filmy "I love you"

It was hard to see the effect of time.
as bells in the theatre did chime,
There he stood dressed in Black
Resting on the wheelchair back
The hero of yesteryears had drooped
He sat immobile and little moved
Few came near to him and waved him "Hi!"
Others came to say him goodbye
Once in a while the hero did smile
As if to say to others it had been a while
Thank You all for remembering me
Time is precious and not as endless as sea
He was counting his years,we all could judge
Young and old are facts of life you cannot fudge
So live a life and let it be
Come once and see him at Prithvi

DumbStruck

The pain was excruciating

I felt my pharynx stifling

The tonsils felt like large bells 

The pain looked like it would never quell

I realized that this was sickness in passing

Applied for leave with a feeling foreboding

Not being able to speak

Could really get any woman weak

However. inspired by Stephen Hawking

I ruminated on philosophy and theory of String

Cyberslacked and checked random facebook profiles

Liked every possible meme mentioned in the digital file

Gazed through the online seas of  fashion style

Surfing WebMD on my illness once in a while

Tried to watch a couple of  movies,series on the go 

Only to discover whatsapp notification had broken the flow

Leisure it was listening to classical vocals croon

Drug overdose and slumber left me to swoon

Husband's happiness hid behind the light

Of course speech deprived wife is every married man's delight

Advice came from everywhere galore

Gargle, home remedies and even neck contraptions were sure

In these moments of silence,

as I faced my inner resilience

I realised how nagging yet crucial our voice is

Which so often makes others' p!$$

When in excess speech is an abscess

And similar is an extension of silence; a stress

If we were to learn how to attain equanimity

Speech would hardly be a measure of felicity

In this day and age when everyone wants a sound byte 

How can  Thomas Carlyle be believed to be right

"Silence moulds great lives" he had said

He should be asked to sit and watch TV news instead

Gone are the days where thinkers thought 

Today is the day where action and brashness is bought

Dear Almighty(if thou really art there)

I have reflected enough and took requisite care

"Speech might be silver and Silence golden"

I want the cheaper of the two as my purse strings embolden

If I could only pass this spell of silence on somebody

No I would not do that to my  one and only hubby 

It would be the roaring miscreant of the Television 

Arnab is his name  and Timesnow is his harrowing creation

Republic Mix

The hype and the hoopla behind the world’s most powerful man’s visit to India was laid to some rest when I switched from NDTV to the modest Lok Sabha channel to watch the 66th Republic Day parade. I must say that I was watching the visual treat after a quite large lapse of time. The trumpeting at Amar Jawan Jyoti and the PM’s salute to our martyrs was another spectacle I watched after years altogether. I have heard from my friends that a visit to Amar Jawan Jyoti infuses one with patriotism as  the names of shahids belittle your existence as a common man/woman. An overcast Rajpath started its proceedings sharp at 10 am. The Cadillac Beast  came roving with Indian and American flags fluttering in the cold . Michelle and Barrack Obama descended. Secret Services and the hundreds of snipers and security men had been preparing for this day. Michelle in her sobre black overcoat and red scarf helped Mr. Obama put on his overcoat. A minute later President of India arrived. Delhi was drizzling.Luckily PM Modi let go “Barrack” after a short handshake this time. Placed inside the bullet proof enclosure the dignitaries started to witness the proceedings of the 66th Republic Day.
     The Ashok Chakra was awarded to two soldiers posthumously who lost their lives to the enemy at the hands of Pakistani Militants. Their wives received the medals as the families shed tears amongst audience. Did you notice Mr. Obama how terrorists invaded you one time on Sept 11 while we Indians have to dwell in the scourge of terror perennially ? Next  started the parade of the various armed forces contingents. For the first time we had ladies strut in the regimental discipline. Woman empowerment certainly has been a key issue for the current government. Hell Yes! I uphold this display of women empowerment. It might have been a display ; but it still stood for something very deep. The message was very clear . For ages, especially since Mughal invasion patriarchy and man’s dominance has underplayed a woman’s contribution in sustaining a society. We are underestimate the role of woman as a caregiver. Her domestic contributions rarely go recognised by society. Her sacrifice becomes subservience. If you were to ask a simple question,that I have asked myself far too many times. Why? Why does an average  Indian not want a girl child? The reason is; The girl gets married after the parents invest in her upbringing and education. She is not able to render care to her parents in old age because of various reasons . Also there is no sense of pride and recognition that she brings to her family.  How do you solve it? Simple, give her opportunity to shine. Similarly researches reveal that sexual harassment too is more a play of power dynamics and less a lust drive. If the country needs to be purged of its ills ,and gruesome crimes against women need to be wiped off,the key is questioning the societal norms of power and providing example and setting up role models. The examples of woman’s success need to be resounded regularly to give others confidence and inspiration. Furthermore, grass root level changes in terms of fostering girl child education needs an impetus. No wonder we had Smriti Irani, Kiran Bedi  and even Michelle Obama cheering at the valiant ladies of the armed forces today.
    Apart from the state tableaux in which Amma’s state’s caught special attention ,all the others were iridescent. It was amusing to see the “Ayush Mantralaya’s” tableau with models performing yoga. The Railway’s tableau had Raily Minister Prabhu clapping hard in the audience . Prabhuji if only the trains run on time ! The “Make in India” geared tiger roared its way into Rajpath and the children sang and danced to the tune of “Mangalyaan”. As the armed forces staged formation of Armed vehicles Obama must be thinking “Damn it! They should have called Putin,with all these Russian Sukhois and Migs.”  As Obama sat next to Modi , I dare say he would have chuckled once or twice on observing Narendra Modi’s suit. “Man! Modi is a megalomaniac. Who wears a suit with his own name finely printed all over the suit?”
Nevertheless All is well that ends well. The show ended with the spectacular acrobatics show on motorcycles by BSF. The stunts were strictly “DO NOT TRY THIS ON YOUR OWN” . Thanks to the meticulous planning and effort of the team,at least something in India ran on time and the parade ended at 12 noon sharp.
 Obama left and the snipers stationed around the space heaved a momentary sigh of relief . I switched back to NDTV. I wanted some masala in the name of Republic Mix. To my displeasure NDTV heralded the end of common man creator, R K Laxman

Time now for a common woman,eh?

You let me down, Saina!

I am a badminton enthusiast! It is one of the simplest games to understand and one of the most difficult games to excel in. From long waits at queued public badminton courts to actually hitting that smash ,I personally feel I have grown better at the game with time. Badminton is a game testing agility and reflexes . Needless to say,it is also a great aerobic exercise.
  Just like many others,I considered Saina my ideal and my inspiration. A small town girl,whose parents migrated to Hyderabad to fulfill her dream of becoming a raquet roarer . They could barely afford her training.but Saina with her single minded dedication and commitment rose to become a star. Thanks to Saina ,a lot of girls like me took to  badminton raquet and decided to play. That's what sports icons do . They Inspire. I particularly loved it when Saina said no to endorsements before the Olympics because she wanted to focus on her game. Who would have let go such a gold harvesting opportunity?
 The elan with which she revered her ideal Sachin Tendulkar. The reverence that she has had for Gopi Sir. She said that the reason why she had  to withdraw from his coaching was to help Gopichand train other budding stars.The fiery girl with composed disposition on court recently smashed shuttles  in the wrong court. This wrong court was that of awards. Why this fracas for an award??
  Come on Saina,a gracious girl like you doesn't deserve this squabble. You are an Olympic medallist.
You've done us proud at Commonwealth Games, Asian games,Uber Cup and a lot of others. Look,great people don't ask for awards. Awards come to them. You should have known it all the way. Sachin has never asked for it. Amir Khan has rejected a few. Kailash Satyarthi never gave importance to who filed his nomination for the Nobel Prize. Noted journalist P. Sainath rejected Padma Shri. Tagore said no to knighthood. Atalji never asked for the Bharat Ratna. There are so many examples . Even your Gopi Sir won the Padma Bhushan only recently in 2014.Great people do great things to set an example,not to seek attention.Girls like you have been brand ambassadors of girl child education and empowerment. Why drag yourself in this dirty controversy of awards? You need to hold your head high. It would have come to you sooner or later.
  Saina,I am terribly disappointed by your conduct. You have let me down. This is clearly a bad example of sportsmanship. This is no humility.It is a situation very similar to those that petty politicians put themselves into. My worst fear is,the authorities granting you the award after your hue and cry. From what one reads  in the news ,there are other athletes who have joined the fray and have started to demand that their plea be considered for the awards. Seriously is this how we are preparing for 2016 Olympics?
 Just an advice to you Saina

                                               

  

Saddest Soliloquy

It is just so difficult to follow mathematics. I hate Algebra. Damn It! I haven't even memorised the volume formulae of cubes,cones and sphere. Inshallah Allah! These shouldn't be asked in the tests. Once the test is over ; we shall break for tiffin and I will eat Ammi Jaan's made mutton biryani. Yesterday she made me study so much,today I will definitely go home and play cricket out in the fields with Bashir. There is also some good anime to be shown on Cartoon Network if Abbu lets me watch it , and not sit down with his News on Paktv.
Ufff..Here comes the teacher. "Allah , please please let the questions be easy!! Please Please"
Okay so the first question that I can read on board  is 5 taps fill 7 litre  of water tank in 9 hours . In how many hours can 4 taps fill half the tank.   I hope my pen is working. This seems to be an easy question. The answer is ..........  .
Just a minute  "Why is Nila raising her hand? Oh,damn she already has doubts in the second question. "Riaz come on hurry," I say to myself.
   All of a sudden where is this sound coming from?
5 loud bangs. This is not the time for fire crackers. Oh my God! I can hear people shouting. The teacher asks us to continue writing test. She is gone but we can all sense the frenzy in the air. Bilal and front benchers rush to the door. There is too much of running around and stamping on the floor above.
" Gunshots " Bilal screams .
"There is an attack"Bilal cries again prying from the door to the groud in front of him  .
 "Ammi Jaan Abbu Jaan ,Please save us , Please save me"
" I want to go home and play. I was telling Ammi Jaan that I had a stomach ache. I wish I could have been at home"
Oh Teacher is back but why is she so afraid?
Teacher bolting the classroom from inside" Children hide below your desks"
"Why?"
We all make space under the desk but there is far too much of noise around with desks being shifted.
A man opens the classroom door with a jolt. Oh He has a machine gun,much like Abbu has in his army camps.
"No he just shot teacher"
"DRrrrrrrrrrrrr Drrrrrrrrrrrrrr Drrrrrrrrrrrr" He has shot the entire first two rows  .
 "Ammi Nooooooo"
"I dont want to die like Araf just did".
"Allah just save me"
These people ,who are they? They are in uniform like Abu"
Men in uniform crying out to children," Come out you rest of children,Follow me to the auditorium,Just shut up and come out"
Ohhh.. I must go to the auditorium. Maybe I will be safe. But I don't want to die. "Allah please protect me"
I leave the classroom just realising that I am still breathing while walking on the pool of blood. Nila had just finished answering her second question and now she is dead.
As I am making my way out of class ,along with my classmates I can see some 30 students from the second floor with their hands up making their way to the auditorium. Maybe these Shaitans
will spare us. Maybe they will just kidnap us. Maybe I just turned lucky. May be I will live to see Ammi and Abbu.
    Why are we all being asked to queue up outside the auditorium? What did these men get by shooting?
I cant just stop crying.
"Oh No... What is this?? Who is this person in fire? How did the person catch fire? I can only hear howls,shrieks and cries all around.
  " What!!! What!! So many armed gunmen? Oh no This guy has already taken out his gun again parallel to the ground. What is he aiming at?"
"Oh no...Drrrrrrrrrrrrr Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.."
Did he just shoot the first queue.
There are twenty of us in this queue. Are we going to end up the same way? But why?
 Abbu!! Ammi !! Please Save me Abbu!!
No...No...
"Drrrrrrrrrrrrr....Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...Drrrrrr"

 The next day journalists reach Riaz's class to see how humanity died that day in Peshawar's Army public School.

Why Knot?

Out in front of her eyes stood the vast expanse of the endless sea.Her eyes drifted from one end to the other . The salty breeze slapped her bony cheeks and her eyes  started to swell with emotions just like the sea frothing with humungous waves. The rains had started to patter and the petrichore grew stronger. The noolia started warning people inside the sea to come out. The tide was high and inclement  August weather was imminent. She had never wanted to come to Puri. She had told her husband that.Yet he insisted.   Now she could see him at some distance......

3 years back....

“We are all going to Puri . Don’t you want to come? It is a family trip. Dad and I along with Dada, Dadi,Bua ,Uncle, Kaku and KakiMa and your little cousin Shiv everyone will be there.” I told mom that I needed time to think. Eventually I decided to go.It would be fun after all. It had been quite some time since all of us had been together.The first day when we reached Bhubaneswar it was fun eating Dadi’s homemade condiments rich in ghee and sugar. Funny that Dadaji still needed Dadi to give him all his clothes and utilities. He would cry out Dadi’s name and ask for stuffs  and Dadi would chide him like he was 5 year old asking him why it was not possible for him to take care of his belongings. The place where we were staying in Puri was more of a holy shrine that in local parlance is known as Dharamshala with a big courtyard where priests sang hymns continuously.The first day we went for darshan to the famous Lord Jagannath temple. I have always had a grudge against the superstitious rituals that are done in the name of faith and religion. Can’t we pray in silence? Why is it that I need to tussle in and strangulate myself in a dense smelly crowd just to see a God’s image whose photo I see everyday? Ma as always asked me to shed away my need for reason and logic and strictly asked me to wear the garb of tradition . What an ordeal it was to get a glimpse of Jagannath,Subhadra and Balram. I felt sorry for my 10 year old cousin Shiv and was constantly reaching out to make sure he wasn’t crushed in this swarm of mortals. After that pandemonium of darshan  the next day Dad ,Dadaji ,Shiv, Kaku and I decided to go into the sea and bathe in it.

     I was given the primary responsibility of clicking pictures as I was the proud owner of a new smartphone. Dadaji who had taught me to take dip in the holy Ganges tried to recreate the same only to be sent ashore by the strong waves . Luckily Dad came to rescue at the right moment and we further asked Dadaji  to stay onshore. By this time 10 year old Shiv was in the sea alone jumping as each time the currents lashed against the shore. Shiv was a child and his curiosity was only making him take baby steps into the ocean. Another wave lashed out on the shore and while receding Shiv was moving along with it into the ocean. Dad and I left Dadaji onshore and darted towards Shiv. Luckily we rescued him. Poor Shiv was reprimanded by my dad  for his little adventure stint and even received a spank by his dad. As the sun uncovered from the clouds, the heat became scorching and we decided to go back to the dharamsala. Our room was on the second floor. Shiv wanted to see all the snaps I had clicked on the beach. Of course I was wary of handing the kiddo my smartphone. Nevertheless he asked for it, and I gave it to him. “Angry birds is my favourite game,How can I play that?” , Shiv asked. Irritated by his pestering demand , I taught him to play the game with the projectile aim.Shiv started humming his favourite song while playing on my mobile phone,sitting on the projected window sill. His  body  resting against the aluminium glass window. Meanwhile Dadi came into the room looking for Shiv. I was putting on kajal on the mirror. “Where are is my little Shivi? I heard about your mischief in the sea” . Shiv tried to hide from Dadi and leaned on further pressurising himself against the window.

In a moment my Kajal dropped and my eyes turned towards the window. I couldn’t believe what I had seen. Shiv was not there on the window sill nor was the window there. I heard a thud on the ground and the sound of crackling glass. What followed was Dadi ‘s screams of “Save Shiv, Save my child “ He has fallen down. The window broke along with the frame.” We darted downstairs. The child was covered in a pool of blood. The remaining description sends a shudder through my spine. His mom i.e my aunt was wailing. The ambulance was called and Shiv was taken to the hospital. The authorities confirmed what we all were anticipating with horror and disgust. Shiv was cremated then and there itself at Puri’s seaside cremation ghat.

Puri never will never be a holiday destination for her . She had told her husband that.Yet he insisted.   Now she could see Shiv at some distance......


That distance had made her look at life from a new direction.

MAKE A MOOC

When the Indian born Satya Nadella was announced as the new CEO of Microsoft this is what he said,"I am a lifelong learner who buys more books and signs up for more online courses than he could ever complete.I am just crazy ambitious in the 15 minutes I have in the morning. You know, I'm trying to listen to a neuroscience class or something,

         Self learning unequivocally has been the highest form scholarship.

Greatest geniuses and freethinkers were self taught in many ways. Eg. Aristotle,Da Vinci ,Einstein and even Bill Gates to a great extent. What astonishes me now is the amount that people pay to earn lofty degrees. On one hand we talk of the internet spreading its tentacles in every possible nook and cranny of our lives and on the other the skyrocketing costs of getting a higher education degree. In this day and age when Google has answer to every question. Why then go for the expensive alternative?
  My views have been contradicted by people telling me that computers cannot replicate the classroom experience . The best of the teachers come at a price and that the college and hostel accommodation and infrastructure need to be paid for. Clearly education in such a case is bound to be the privelege of the rich. The challenge of the time lies in making education accessible to everyone. This will upgrade skills and make the work force more employable which in turn will strengthen economy. It was probably because of  this reason why the former govt had launched the NPTEL stream on youtube where IIT professors were asked by the MHRD to upload their class lecture in video format so that the rest of the country could utilise it. Economist Jagdish Bhagwati had expressed that he was bullish in advising erstwhile Education Minister Kapil Sibal to harness online education to employ the workforce. It was probably this reason why the current budget emphasised using online training programs. “ To take advantage of the reach of the IT, I propose to allocate a sum of Rs.100 crore for setting up virtual classrooms as Communication Linked Interface for Cultivating Knowledge (CLICK) and online courses.” Said Mr. Jaitly

   In what is now known as the disruptive technology in education MOOC(Massive Open Online Course) is here to break such myths(or atleast I hope so). The sci -fi writer and visionary Issac Asimov had predicted long back that there will come a time when Man will use a tool that will disseminate information in waves and going to school will become redundant. I am not sure if Pink Floyd had heard Asimov while making the song "We don't need no education".

   What started with a few DIY (do it yourself) videos and Khanacademy is now burgeoning into the gen- next education tool. Having been an active learner and MOOCer ,I can't believe how befitting coursera has proved to be.While tomes were always available,the audio visual form of lectures is more comprehensive than any other form. I personally download these lectures . The courses are spread over a month or two. Each week is afresh with new lectures. On an average there are 6 lectures per week. Each lecture being only 10 to 15 minutes long. You can download them on a weekly basis on your smartphones. I personally spend 15 minutes after lunch or dinner and go through these lecture while strolling(multi tasking at its best!) . You could go through them while commuting on  metro or while sitting on the local bus en route office. Then take half an hour on Sunday to fill up the weekly  tests. The gamut of courses range from medicine,business,economics,philosophy ,statistics ,management and engineering.

  The websites certify you on course completion if you clear the cut off marks. Websites like coursera,edx,udacity,iversity have most of their courses for free. You get a certificate of accomplishment mentioning your name on these certificates. However If you want a verified certificate with your picture on it and a certificate of distinction with your final score  you may have to shell out a sum of 40$. This too isn't  much as most of the universities are of international repute.The courses have active forums where you can shoot a question to the professor or connect with international students and learn from each other.

     On the flip side,statistics also suggests that many students who sign up for these courses don’t always complete them. Though a lot of people enroll for courses,but only a certain percentage is able to sustain the discipline  and rigour to finish the courses. A few of my inquizitive friends roll into too many courses at one time,and end up finishing none.I would advise them to go for one course at a time.  This is because one has to be self motivated for learning through this medium just as is the case with other certification exams.Another issue lies with the  acceptability of these certifications.While the US is accepting MOOC with linkendin.com  hyperlinking your  certificates  to  add credentials to your resume,the trend has still to be accepted in India. Marissa Mayer's Yahoo has tied up with with coursera and is sponsoring courses for its employees and so has Mc Afee.

    Most Importantly,It is the passion for knowledge and learning that needs to be kindled. Freethinkers and self learners will get massive leverage through these programs.  Only then can we harness MOOC for skill enhancement and  nation building. Here is a TED talk that will provide you food for thought on similar lines . In a country teeming with below poverty lines families’ children,a concept like this would work wonders.

   

May Wave

  Nicky couldn’t bear it. It was getting excruciating now.She asked the chauffeur  to quickly switch on the AC straight after he opened the car door for her. “Just a minute Madam” .The sweltering heat at Moras in the Rajasthan-Gujarat border  had left her mouth scorched . Her polarized wayfarers were transmitting the UV rays that made her eyes dance. No sooner had she ensconced herself in the back seat of the SUV than she reached out for the Coke can to quench her seemingly insatiable thirst. Alas! The coke can had conducted the heat inside and the secret formula was no longer a “cold drink”.“Bhanu Bhaiya can we find some mineral water nearby?” Nicky Seth asked her driver.“I have exhausted all the five mineral water bottles  I was carrying”.
    Nicky thought again of her hectic morning.She had reached Moras early morning at 7 am . Since then she had given speeches at the local Panchayats,Gram Sabhas. The men were mesmerized by the glamour their upcoming Neta exuded in the humble but chic white Salwar Suit she was wearing . She had walked some 6-8 kms around the village schools and promised that she would ensure better education infrastructure if her father came to power. She had visited  the women self help groups and listened to their daily problems.The snake bites that had taken away the lives of children. The problem of men leaving back families at Moras while they went looking for work outside village and state. Her economics  education at King’s College had already made her aware of these problems. The last time Nicky had visited the place was when she had to present a paper on "Poverty and deprivation-How to create opportunities ".  She remembered how little had things changed over a period of 10 years. 10 years back she and her friends from College Colleen and Markus had accompanied her to Rajasthan. Indeed it was a romantic land for tourists.

    Nicky had fallen asleep in a jiffy and when the SUV buckled under the stony pathway  on the road she woke up to feel thirsty again. She glanced at her watch and saw that it had only been twenty minutes since they had started from Moras and her palate was crying out for water.
“Bhanu Bhaiya,can Is there no where we can get water?”

“Madam we have to reach Jodhpur for that or we could stop any passing car and ask for water”

Nicky didn’t consider that a safe option. She wished she had listened to her dad’s advice of landing at Moras on a chopper. Had she not been crazy and adventurous to have taken the austere option of travelling in the SUV. She was getting delirious. Suddenly she was struck by a bright flash in her mind. She reached her hands for her handbag and after rummaging through the inner recesses found out the chewing gum that had been  there . 

“How far Bhanu Singh from Jodhpur are we?”

“2 hours and half Madam”

“Damn It!”, She thought.  Nicky didn’t even have network on her cellphone.

The strawberry flavor in her mouth gave her some respite. Nicky switched on her I-phone and what a coincidence. I-tunes was streaming “The desert rose” . In a while Nikita Seth's rumination led her to a state of senselessness.Somewhere in the deep pockets of her unconscious mind she could see a water pond. As soon as she came near the water there was this barren stretch of land again. Mirage! and she fainted.
     "She is alive. She is fine now."  Nicky couldn’t understand the delightful cheer . It took a few moments for her to understand what was going on. Rhodopsin bleaching in her eyes. She rubbed her eyes to see 3 women cheering in Rajasthani  while Bhanu Singh stood next and asked her, “Madam are you fine?”

She asked Bhanu,” What’s going on?” Bhanu explained her that she had fainted on the back seat and luckily the bevy of women were travelling from one village to another carrying water. Hesitantly he asked for their help and they delightfully splashed water on her face to awaken her. Nicky thanked them with a mighty heart. She had avoided drinking in the village water all throughout the morning thinking it would be unhygienic and not  potable but now she could drink water from any source. She  gulped as one of the women poured water on her cupped alms.Nicky tried to thank them by tipping them with a 500 Rs note which they accepted  after initial hesitation.

  Nicky reached her mansion at Jodhpur in the evening . After a big sigh of relief  she narrated her story to her dad. She extorted a promise from her dad that if he became the MP again this year he would do something about the water issue at  Moras. Her dad said “The place is geographically handicapped Beta .There is not much that I can do” .  She argued that there must be some way.

Later in night she tweeted "Water is life. Thanks to the women of Rajasthan”and shared the photo on facebook with a caption “Incredible India!”

 After reading and checking the responses on her posts Nicky decided to relax and call it a day after her regular evening swim . She went to their mansion’s pool and  found the dewatering pump emptying the swimming pool.Irony she thought.
"Abundance in Scarcity or Scarcity in Abundance?" She tweeted standing next to the pool.

AWE SCAR!

My tryst with the Oscars dates back to 1999.

I had watched the entire ceremony as Shekhar Kapoor’s Elizabeth had been nominated . With such a direct Indian connect there were bound to be questions raised in the subsequent quizzes .Interestingly the etymology of the Oscars is disputed.One biography of actress Bette Davis claims that she named the Oscar after her first husband, band leader Harmon Oscar Nelson. Another claimed origin is that the Academy's Executive Secretary,Margaret Herrick, first saw the award in 1931 and made reference to the statuette's reminding her of her "Uncle Oscar" 

  Whoopi Goldberg I remember had hosted the 1999 Oscars but was hilarious enough to make a novice like me laugh.Sadly the  internet  hadn't seen its inception around in those days but the Oscar tag left me captivated. Dad would pick and choose English movies that we could watch under parental guidance. Whenever newspapers or magazines covered anything on the Oscars I would read the entire story and dig deeper into it.  After all these years of following Oscars so closely,I am still enthralled by them and will continue to be. The academy comprises of intellectuals who celebrate victory of human spirit. The Academy embraces all and loves movies with a social message especially that of an individual’s strength. The indomitable human spirit that transcends sex,nationality,colour .There is a joke that if you want to win the Oscars make a movie either on Holocaust,War, Gay rights or handicap. Jokes apart human rights remain the  the most important issues we face today.

   The beauty of each nominated movie lies in the fact that they are  surreal and sublime. Like most stories the academy votes for human inspiration and pushing boundaries and limitless thinking.They are mostly based  on true stories. Be it this year’s Philomina,Captain Phillips or yesteryear’s Milk, Mystic River,Frost Nixon,Argo and so many more. If not that then they adapt some of the greatest books written. Eg To Kill A Mocking Bird,Shawshank Redemption, Lord of the Rings. Each of these being specimen of great storytelling..

 The special category of animated feature film also gets special attention. Winning the Oscar awards is extremely good marketing for these movies when they start fetching millions beyond English speaking countries as they get translated and subtitled. The science and maths that go behind making these movies is also a different form of innovation. There is the special Scientific and Technical awards given by the academy that is presented before the glitzy award night. The mega bucks pumped into art direction brings out the best of creative geniuses. Imagine dolby sound effects and 3D cinema experiences as cornerstones of technology.

       The choice of anchors has mostly been great with comedians like Whoopi Goldberg,BillyCrystal and Steve Martin hosting it more than once and  pleasing everyone with their satirical humour. Ellen was a pleasant surprise this year too. Her style was queer. My favourite joke was the jibe she made at Jonah Hill.. Here  is the entire joke summary. I have  also loved the concept of best music scores of the year interspersing the awards.It is done in a very neat fashion. Even better was when Hugh Jackman was the musical host in 2009. Though we didn’t see Tom Hanks in the audience this year but we saw the real life Captain Phillips and Philomina. Barkhad Abdi was nominated in his debut role of Somali pirate after he gave up his limousine driver's job at Minnesota in real life. Contrary to last year there were no political surprises. Last year  Michelle Obama was videocalled to announce the best movie that left a lot of fans and audience in a tizzy. Never before had this happened.This year The academy announced that it would be unveiling its  museum in 2017. Now I know when to visit  USA and do more than just walk on the Hollywood walk of fame.

    If you are a documentary person make sure you watch the listed nominees for the best documentaries(both short and feature) in the Oscars as each is a masterpiece.Some of my favourites being Born in Brothels,Cove and Inside Job. One of the most contested title is that of Best foreign feature films that invites nomination from most of the countries around the world. French,Italian and Iranian movies have been regular movies in this category.

   For all those who think the razzmatazz is limited to these rich haute couture following actors, gulp the fact that Givenchy and Naeem Khan and other designers  use a lot of local artwork and craftsmanship including the Indian zardozi and chickon . I always find it sad that we take down Aishwarya for her wardrobes at Cannes,when she could simply sizzle the in one of her sarees. What is “art” and “crossover” movie in India is the normal academy movie. I believe a lot of our Indian especially regional movies have substance to put the Academy jury in awe. But why doesn’t it get such a large audience?

a)    If we make movies on gay rights/communal atrocity there is bound to be a national outrage and meaningless politics.

b)  We can never expect a feat like Meryl Streep. Indian actresses die their screen deaths once they bear children. Audiences and directors cannot give good roles to actresses in their 40s. Look at Kajol, Madhuri and Juhi.

In a country that claims to be outsourcing its brains to NASA ,MS and Apple are we intellectually that hollow to not swallow sensible cinema ?So you see why Aamir doesn’t need the validation of the Filmfare awards and the likes.Alternately many of us believe that as Indians we have just too many worries to fret in our real lives so  cinema should be dumb fun with no brainer scripts and of course hogwash songs.

As the famous twitteratti Ramesh Srivats tweeted today, “ We as Indians start finding our slimmest connects with the Oscars”. My biggest regret remains that Lagaan and Swades both didn’t  win the Oscars. Another regret is the fact that a movie like Slumdog Millionaire grabbed so many awards.I don’t think it deserved the kind of attention it did. Hopefully Anand Gandhi and likes will keep making movies like Ship of Theseus and raise our expectation in the future for bringing home an Oscar,irrespective of the lukewarm response at the box office.All that is popular doesn't need to be good.

  Now as a Girl Interrupted my google stats show that on  The Social Network shrillvoices has more readers in Pardes than in Swades.Maybe the blog is Lost in Translation or I don’t have a Beautiful Mind .Either which way I am not going to be  a million dollar baby!

  

P.S. I am still waiting for the day when they will make a movie on Richard Feynman.