VISHWAROOPAM IMBROGLIO

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/left-right-centre/do-political-parties-pander-to-fringe-groups/263634?h_also_see

Watched a few debates on this controversy and got a chance to listen to the govt and its representatives and the elites of the country - my conclusion is that govt does not give a hoot to these intellectuals (artists, writers etc). All they need is the mass, who can vote for them and keep them in power. Why should the govt. support these creative artists like Kamla Hasan, who don't even bother to come out and vote for them. "Vishwaroopam" imbroglio is nothing but political. I don't know where India is heading.

Half the people, who are protesting have not seen the movie or did not even read "Satanic Verses" and people, who have seen the movie or read the book are not on the road. Renuka Chowdhury said clearly that govt has to make smarter choices out of the two - whether to protect one person or the mass. ha ha ha. Even if our constitutional rights for freedom of expression is getting hampered by 20 hooligans from the minority group, that seems to be ok for the govt or Renuka. Loved Farukh Sheikh for his thoughts as a secular Indian.

Mr. Navaneetha Krishnana, the advocate general of Tamil Nadu, (definitely a political appointee), said in one of the debates that "Amma upholds the LAW". We should applaud him to work for Amma and not for the law itself. Jaylalitha (Amma) for sure will not get a devotee like him. "MERA BHARAT SACHMUCH MAHAN HAI". ..a country of opportunist politicians. The crux of the matter is that we don't have much choices to make and thus we keep on bringing the same people with tainted record again and again.

REVIEW OF INKAAR

Watched 'Inkaar'. Liked it. A new subject and style has been introduced..very Hollywood in its approach. Sexual harassment at work places - these days we hear a lot about this. But I liked the movie because of the treatment given to this subject. We always blame men folk and don't try to see their viewpoint. The question is how to define modernity - How to determine the thin difference between flirtation and sexual harassment? A thought provoking movie.

In my personal opinion, when two people are in a room, it is difficult for the 3rd person to give the verdict. Everyone will judge the person as per their own perception. So perception matters, not the truth.

 If you like serious cinema, this movie is for you. It is a fast paced movie with appropriate dialogues, directed by Sudhir Mishra. He has succeeded in raising certain questions and given us the topic to debate. The time of the release is also very appropriate as the whole country is burning with Damini's rape issue and Parliament is debating about the stricter law enforcement. Arjun Rampal impressed me but Chitraganda Singh was not able to evoke my sympathy. It s good that director has not taken the sides and left it for the audience to decide. I have talked to many of my friends, who saw the movie, and none of us were  able to reach a consensus.

हिंदी दिवस - एक सोच

हिंदी उन सब गुणों से अलंकृत है ,जिनके बल पर वह विश्व की साहित्यिक भाषाओँ की अगली श्रेणी में आसीन हो सकती है ......................................................................मैथिली शरण गुप्त

पर इसके बावजूद हिंदी भाषा की स्वीकृति हिंदुस्तान में ही कम होती जा रही है. ये भी एक कड़वा सच है. हमें हिंदी के प्रचार-प्रसार के लिए कई मुहीम चलानी चाहिए. लोगों के अन्दर भाषा की गरिमा के लिए एक सम्मान जगाने की ज़रुरत है . पर उसके लिए ये नहीं कहना है की बाकी भाषा पढना छोड़ दो या कॉन्वेंट  स्कूल जाना छोड़ दो. किसी और भाषा की उपस्थिति आपकी भाषा के लिए खतरा नहीं बन सकती. जितने भी लोग ऐसा कहते हैं, वो खुद अपने बच्चों को कॉन्वेंट स्कूल में पढाना चाहते हैं.

अन्तराष्ट्रीय स्तर पर सफलता के लिए विभिन्न भाषा का ज्ञान और खास कर के अंग्रेजी भाषा का ज्ञान आजकल ज़रूरी हो गया है - इससे इनकार नहीं किया जा सकता. अच्छा हो की इस सच्चाई को समझते हुए, हम अपनी भाषा के लिए लोगों के अन्दर आदर और गरिमा जगाये . इसके लिए मीडिया की मदद से हम जगह- जगह और खास कर स्कूलों और कॉलेजों में सेमिनार करें , मुझे याद है १९८०-९०s में दिल्ली के प्रगति मैदान में हिंदुस्तान के नौजवानों में शास्त्रीय संगीत की महत्ता को जगाने के लिए रोज सुबह शास्त्रीय संगीत की बैठक हुआ करती थी जहाँ शास्त्रीय संगीत के जाने-माने संगीतज्ञ आकर गायन करते थे और उसकी महत्ता को बताते थे .

कुछ उसी तरह की बात हिंदी भाषा के प्रचार- प्रसार के लिए की जा सकती है . किसी भी चीज़ को सकारात्मक ढंग से कहा जाए तो  उसका असर होता है, मैं निजी तौर पर किसी भी तरह के नकारात्मक और आक्रामक प्रचार के खिलाफ हूँ. किसी भी चीज़ को हम किसी भी तरह से किसी से ज़बरदस्ती नहीं करा सकते.  हमारे हिंदी लेखक और कवि इस क्षेत्र में मह्तवपूर्ण भूमिका निभा सकते हैं. किसी को भी ये कहना की वो अपने बच्चों को कॉन्वेंट स्कूल न भेजे, गलत हैं क्योंकि जो कहते हैं , उन सबके बच्चे अंग्रेजी स्कूल में पढ़ते हैं , तो फिर  दूसरे  को ही भाषा- प्रेमी होने की शिक्षा क्यों ? Preach what you practice ...बस, हम अगर अपने साहित्य के प्रति ही  लोगों में जागरूकता पैदा करें, सम्मान पैदा करें  तो यही भारत के लोगों के लिए काफी होगा.

सकारत्मक प्रयास ही सफलता की कुंजी है . लेकिन ये मीडिया के सहयोग के बिना संभव नहीं है. हमारे television पर हिंदी साहित्य को लेकर वार्तालाप हो. बोलने वाले लोग हमारे दिग्गज और जाने-पहचाने चेहरे हो और साथ  में नए अच्छे लिखने वाले लेखकों, लेखिकाओं  और कविओं  का परिचय कराया जाये . उनके कार्य के बारे में लोगों को बताया जाये, तो मुझे विश्वास है की ऐसा करने से लोगों में हिंदी साहित्य को ले कर रूचि ज़रूर पैदा होगी . मैं खुद अमृता प्रीतम , शिवानी , उपेन्द्रनाथ अश्क, सच्चिदानन्द हीरानन्द वात्स्यायन 'अज्ञेय', शरतचंद्र, रविंद्रनाथ टैगोरे, आशापूर्णा देवी, कृशन चन्दर. मन्नू भंडारी , राजेंद्र अवस्थी, ममता कालिया , मालती जोशी , धर्मवीर भारती , मृणाल पाण्डेय , कन्हैयालाल नन्दन, के.पी. सक्सेना, हरिवंस राय बच्चन  और न जाने ऐसे कितने नामी गिरामी कवियों और लेखकों को पढ़ते हुए बड़ी हुई. हमारे अन्दर इन्हें पढने की इच्छा मेरी माँ ने जगाई.

मैं समझती  हूँ हम अपने बच्चों में अपनी भाषा के लिए वो आदर नहीं पैदा कर  पाते. हम अगर उन्हें बताये की हिंदी साहित्य और भाषा का हमारे जीवन में  क्या स्थान है, तो आधी लड़ाई तो हम वहां से ही जीत सकते हैं. अपने बच्चों का अंग्रेजी ज्ञान हमें भी अच्छा लगता है ,पर दूसरे के बच्चों को हिंदी ही पढना चाहिए , ऐसी इच्छा रखना गलत होगा . समय की सच्चाई को समझते हुए हिंदी साहित्य और भाषा के प्रति जागरूकता जगाना ही हमारा धर्म होना चाहिए.

आज से नहीं, अंग्रेजी शासन काल से ही हमारे नौजवान अंग्रेजी भाषा और पश्चिम सभ्यता के प्रति आकर्षित रहे हैं, इस सच को झूठ्लाया नहीं जा सकता और उसकी वजह से ही हिंदुस्तान को बहुत सारी गलत मान्यताओं से बाहर निकला जा सका है. ज्ञान का दरवाजा न बंद करें, चाहे वो किसी भी भाषा से आ रही हो, अपनी भाषा के लिए हमारे अन्दर खुद सम्मान पैदा करने की ज़रुरत है, गर्व महसूस करने की ज़रुरत है. हिंदुस्तान खुद ही विभाजित है, हमारा देश एक बहुभाषीय देश है , वहां हिंदी भाषा को बाहर से नहीं अन्दर से हो खतरा है..ऐसे मैं अंग्रेजी को इसका दुश्मन समझना गलत होगा. 

LEARNING

My birthday has just passed and I was pondering over my past years and thinking that wow!! I have accomplished so much in life in terms of learning. Met so many people, lived in different parts of the world, travelled and went through different life  experiences. When I was young , I never understood the meaning of " dhoop mein baal  safed karna" but now I got the true meaning of it. Kahte hain na, " zindangi sabak kab padhati hai, aur arth kab samjhati hai".  As life is progressing ,I am  getting the meaning of so many things. Is it because I have started knowing myself or getting the message right from the incident happening to me or around me?  Whatever it is, it compelled me to make a list of a few valuable lessons that I learned with the wish of learning many more in the coming years. It is not that I did not make mistakes, I did but then took a lesson from it and moved on. It enriched me as a person and helped me make better decisions. I loved this quote by William Jordan," Mistakes are the growing pains of wisdom," and it comes more from living than studying.  So here is the list.

1.Time may heal most wounds, but not all.
2. Love always but it is not always the answer
3. Life is beautiful .  It is up to us how we want to make it.

4. Forgive people

5. We are all connected

6. Biology doesn’t make a family.

7. I love this saying “This too shall pass”

8. Don't brag unless necessary. People are seeing what you are.

9. Respect is earned,  not commanded

10. Change is growth. We don't look at things the same way as we did 20 yrs ago.

11.Never do something for which you have to lie

12. Certain secrets of life goes with you in your grave

13. Always, always listen to your gut instinct.
14. Take responsibility for your action

15. It’s a good idea to take a deep breath before saying something you might regret
16. Some people come in to your life for a short time but you remember them forever.

17. Be generous

18. Learning is everywhere

19.  I have met some really cool people through the internet.

20. I will never be a follower.

21. My husband is my Guru. I am impressed by his managerial capacity , patience, wisdom ,     knowledge and accepting me the way I am.

22. Accept people the way they are..

23. Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission

24. Be humble

25 I feel at home in my library
26. Life is short – make the most of it

27. Being a woman is a big responsibility.   So act wisely.

28. Be ethical. It makes you feel good about yourself

29. Happiness is a state of mind. So cultivate it.

30. Be expressive. If you like someone or think good about them, then tell them. You never know if life will give you another chance or not.

31. Make people feel comfortable in your company.

32. Believe in goodness . It bounces back.

33. Do not help people unless asked. It sounds good when we read about helping others even without asking but in practical life it backfires.

34. Sometimes it happens that people will love you but you don't feel for them. Still try to respect their sentiment.  Don't brush them off.  It is always rewarding.

35. When something goes wrong, try to look inward. It is not necessary that you are always right.

36. Stop the blame game. It will take you nowhere .

37. Accept the consequences and move on.

38 You can't teach people. Life teaches them.

39. Try to talk to at least a few minutes with someone who can't be happy without you.

40. Try to add quality in people's lives.

41. If you cannot say good things to people, don't say bad. It hurts.

42. Let things go if you want to play long innings with people. Do not hold grudges.

43. Use your judgement to filter people, if they are too much of a trouble. But do not let your EGO affect your judgement.

44. Human relationships are complicated.

45. 'Communication is the key.' - sounds good, but not always the solution.

I haven't yet learned to manage my time well and that is the only regret that I have. I think I am taking my time for granted. I need to work on it in the coming years as Mitch Albom says in his book 'The Timekeeper', "You only have the time you are given, so don't spend time wishing you had more or less, spend your time using it."

Review of movies

I watched "MOD" starring Ayesha Takia and a new face Rannvijay Singh. If you are tired of all the big budget movies like Bodyguard and Ra One, then Mod will be like sugar candy giving you some solace that there are sensitive directors like Nagesh Kukunoor (Iqbal fame), who make sensitive movies. It is a cute and pure love story made with sheer simplicity. It is a slow paced movie with picture perfect landscape at the background. It is like a romantic novel which you should read at a leisurely pace. Ayesha Takia looked lovely and the new actor, Rannvijay Singh was quite natural and convincing. A lovely movie, definitely better than Ra One.


I forgot to mention two beautiful movies that I highly recommend to watch. One is "Iti Mrinalini" by Aparna Sen and the other is "Kashmkash" (Naukadubi - the original bengali version). Both the movies are a treat to watch. Kashmkash is an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's novel Naukadaubi. You may find it a bit slow as we all are living in the age of Ra One, but if you are a lover of real works of art, then you will definitely enjoy this movie. On the other hand Iti Mrinalini is again an Aparna Sen's directorial venture. It is an autobiographical journey of an actress, Mrinalini Mitra, who was hounded by the media and mistreated by her men. I liked the movie in spite of certain criticisms it has faced. It is a story of a weak woman, who somehow becomes an actress but makes wrong decisions in her life and faces the consequences. Not necessarily each and every woman has to be strong in order to be unique and different. Aparna sen and Konkana sen, both worked fantastically.

DR. MANOHAN SINGH AND HIS SILENCE

No matter how much WE like Dr. Manmohan Singh( because of his honesty and contribution towards economic liberation), his silence throughout the multiple scams, that happened in India, is questionable. The new addition of Citizens Right to Grievance Redress Bill 2011 to Public Grievances web site does not acquit him from the environment that has been created by his incompetency and SILENCE. This silence of Dr. Manmohan Singh reminded me of those days of Mahabharta when Draupdi was dragged into the court by Duhshasana on the order of Duryodhana. Seeing the plight of a chaste woman, whole assembly sat in shock and silence, knowing that Yudhishtira was defeated in the game of dice wrongfully, by deceit and cheat. No one came forward for Draupdi's help. Thus the question arises," what is one's DHARMA"? Vidura, Duryodhana's fearless counsellor, explains by quoting the sage Kashyapa about the immorality of remaining silent when there is evil afoot. When honest persons fail in their duty to speak up, they 'wound' dharma and commit adharma. Thus, the leader of the conspiracy earns half the penalty; the immediate culprit a quarter, and the witnesses who do not speak up are also guilty by a quarter. The devaluation of a generation to which Dr. Manmohan Singh belongs, will have to face the consequences for not following Dharma and their allegiance to the people of India. This is not coming from me, but rather our history.

An analyis of Arun Shourie's interview on his new book

I just finished watching an interview of Arun Shourie with Sagarika Ghosh on CNN-IBN Live on his new book "Does He know a Mother's Heart?"(How suffering refutes religion). I have always been a great admirer of Arun Shourie from the time when he was the executive editor of Indian Express - a man of integrity, fearlessness, dignity, honour and truth. I followed almost all of his interviews that were uploaded on youtube. This interview definitely shows a different dimension to his thought process and compels us to think about the existence of God. This book takes us to the journey of his son, Aditya, who is suffering from cerebral palsy for many years and wife Anita, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, leading him to ask, "How can there be extreme suffering if God exists?" He is trying to find his answers through the study of different scriptures and religion and come to his own conclusion. He looks at the concept of God as preached by various faiths from time immemorial, questions them, and concludes that God is just a creation of human thought invented out of fear for the unknown.  Likewise, I am trying to find out my own answer to this question.

I haven't yet read the book, but Mr. Shourie, in his interview says  that in Hinduism we rely completely on God. I differ from him here. We believe that God is compassionate and kind but we don't have to sit and rely on an external object to do some miracle. (It is not that miracles don't happen). Action and karma are the key factors to understand life. If you read the Gita or the complete works of Swami Vivekananda, they have never said that we will not suffer.. Suffering is a part of human life. Religious philosophies give us an understanding to endure those sufferings. If we look at our mythological stories, each and every God-incarnate, be it Prahlad, Jesus Christ , Raja Harishchandra, even Rama had to suffer immensely but they continued to have faith in God.

At one place, Sagarika says, "So you are coming back again and again to the self, to the individual, to the mind, power of the individual to transcend his suffering or to deal with it?" Doesn't this sound familiar? In Vedantic philosophy, I have learnt about self-realization to find God within by empowering oneself with knowledge and faith.

Mr. Shourie further says ," what is the explanation  that they (scriptures) give for such acute suffering of innocent and good people?" When God bestowed His blessings upon him, because of which he earned name, respect, fame, success and prosperity, why then did he not question  God? Why then did he not write a book praising God? When life seems to be good and rosy, we do not question the existence of God. We do not ask  Him, "why have you given so much to me and not to others?" Because we think we deserve it. But so do others. At that time why does our heart not feel the pain and anguish on such disparity of God? For example, when we go for an interview and amongst thousands one gets selected and others do not we attribute the success to ourselves, to our education and intelligence. But is it really the case? How does the interviewer know that you are the right person for that job?  Other candidates must be having the same or more credentials in their hat as well, and yet, you get the opportunity. It is because you are destined to have the success of that kind, at that time.

I know we do not have a ready answer always to people's plight, natural calamities, war, accidental or sudden death. At that time we only can pray,

"God grant me the serenity 

to accept the things I cannot change; 

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference."

I myself am looking forward to read the book as it seems interesting and forthright . . The question that he is asking is what we keep on asking time and again. "why do good people suffer when the wicked and corrupt live perfectly happy lives?"