W. H. Davies
Leisure
WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—
No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

The past always comes to haunt you

The man of the moment S.P.S Rathore(arguably)who is hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons must be gutted I guess.After all,when you have got such a lovely wife at home who looks amazing even at her ripe old age in her courtroom robes and is far sexier than the deceased Ruchika ,can't you practise self control and hold yourself when you know that you have a "lamb" at home whom you can prey upon all night,literally I mean.Yes,I do admit that in this testosterone charged and oestrogen starved society of ours it gets a little ominous on we men to maintain our dignity in the face of "fresh raw meat".But consider this,a man who had painstakingly built his reputation by winning medals a galore,now faces the prospect of loosing them all being charged with molesting an "aspiring" tennis player(Ruchika appeared more like a mini Bandit Queen in her sole picture that props up in the news every now and then!). Infact he ought to have been given the benefit of doubt in this judgement as some wise old man once said "JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED" and considering the track record of the Indian Judiciary in their promptness to deliver "NATURAL JUSTICE" it would take another decade at least to arrive at something definite.Even then the accused would have the option to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court which would further lengthen the decision making process.Moreover by then molestation might well have become a minor offence by way of the Indian culture (considering the rapid rate of degradation that had set in the Indian Society according to the MORALISTS ) and the Supreme Judge might well have meted out the natural course of justice on the accused by way of death.So,my basic argument is: Shouldn't we attach much less importance to this trivial matter that doesn't deserve so much space in the print media in the first place being swayed by the public "hulla bol" and being fanned by the sensationalist Indian media and focus our attention on the other matters of national importance like unemployment?

Indian Cinema at its worst

The desi version of the Hollywood flick Memento , one of Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece and arguably one of the cult movies in the way films are being made in Hollywood , Ghajini starring Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan belongs to the class of crass Bollywood masalas that go on to become money-spinners without there being any storyline whatsoever. Other notable films in this elite list include Om Shanti Om, Singh Is King etc.Such films come riding on a wave of expectation and frenzy being generated by their million dollar promotion campaigns and even before the audience realize that they have been made ‘MTV bakras’, the film has already hit the jackpot and is a super hit. Perhaps, none of the moviegoers earn their money “hard” which is why a section of them even go for a “revision”. Also the layman who has gone to the multiplex for the first time to watch these terrible movies being swayed by the hype created all around, with some actors even going to the extent of donning the hat of a barber, he is left with no alternative but to enjoy the 3 hours of first class A.C and come out smiling at the end of the movie for having a good nap and say sweet somethings about the head(movie!)ache when faced with the overzealous media. And this brings us to the basic question as to why such movies are made in the first place. Those of you who have had the privilege to watch Memento will admit that everything other than Asin about Ghajini was like a horror film gone terribly wrong with the end result being a C grade Tollywood soap opera that leaves you with a feeling of indigestion. Recount the scene when Ghajini, the villain is just about to thrash Asin with a poker in the head, when he impetuously plonks the iron rod a couple of times on the ground that reminded of an overcautious Rahul Dravid hitting the pitch with his bat on a “green top” in an attempt to smother the uneven bounce and sideways movement .And then he hits Asin with such grace which reminded of the now fallen from grace Tiger(in the)Woods hitting a birdie. And Aamir Khan takes idiocy to an altogether new level with his shouting antiques every time he is confronted by the hapless police officer who appeared like a mouse in a lion’s den only to be bullied around. The officer’s inclusion in the film was quite inexplicable and when they could find no further part for him in the storyline, he was done away with by being hit with a speeding vehicle. And can anyone tell why Jiah Khan, who was only there to cry and cry more to create a flutter around herself and being rightly reprimanded for that by Ghajini and his men, was part of the film at all? And admittedly Aamir Khan didn’t understand the theme of Memento which inspired him to make the easily gullible desi version for the desi men and women. This is what you mean by social reform with a difference in the process making him a laughing stock of the B-town. But when such movies go on to become the highest Bollywood grosser, it reinforces the question- whether the Indian movie audience can at all appreciate the difference between good cinema and bad cinema or do they have to necessarily like a B-grade movie just because the cast includes a certain someone called Aamir Khan!!!!!

3 idiots reloaded

I've just been to INOX to catch the matinee show of 3 IDIOTS.Although the tickets came at a high price(150/-),nevertheless they were worth it.Infact,I'm ready to pay a few more bucks just to have a hearty laugh again at that wonderfully crafted chamatkar BALATKARI speech by SILENCER,Chattur.Perhaps that was the only new addition to the script by Raju Hirani and Abhijat Joshi which improved upon the original work by Chetan Bhagat.The other additions went as far as only extending the viewing time by 45 minutes,even to the point of stretching it to boredom.And this brings to the fore the burning debate as of now-whether Chetan Bhagat was given adequate respect by not including his name in the roling credits of the film?Being an aspiring writer myself,I fully appreciate Bhagat's view that he was given a raw deal.For a writer,its not just the money that matters because I don't think that a cheque of 11 lacks rupees would have made any difference to his already more than handsome bank balance.He must have sold the copyrights of the script to Vinod Chopra productions in order to reach out to a far wider audience-a major section of the moviegoers hardly read any book.After all,how many of us had heard of Q&A by Vikas Swarup before it was adapted by Danny Boyle into the chartbuster Slumdog Millionaire.There also,there were minor changes from the original novel because it is mighty difficult to depict all the finer details in a cinematic time of 3 hours at most.But even the Hollywood men had the courtesy to rightfully acknowledge Swarup's contribution in the rolling credits of the film.And here,we find our most loved and read author,Chetan Bhagat by the country's youth who have taken to reading mostly because of him,being duped by Aamir Khan & Co in order to accomodate for their partner in crime,Abhijat Joshi who could contribute only 1 meaningful addition by toiling over the original script for 3 years!!!Perhaps that best explains why Raju Hirani comes up with a film in nearly a decade.I hardly imagine your work to progress at a faster pace when you have got such assistants for company.And the less said the better of the Ringmaster,Vidhu Vinod Chopra who claims to have coscripted Parineeta alongwith Pradip Sarkar in the opening credits of that film based on Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's novel.This is what I mean by height of Plagiarism.I wonder what the great posthumous writer must have felt on seeing his work being improved upon by a certain something called Vidhu Vinod Chopra!!!!!And who does not remember the ugly spate that broke out in public between Amol Gupte and Aamir Khan over the script of Taare Zameen Par.Now I seem to have found out the recipe of Aamir Khan's success at the box office.He only takes up those projects based on exemplary pieces of work by contemporary writers and then dupe them by not giving their due credit for their art and not even their deserving monetary profit as was the case with Gupte.This whole fiasco has a wider picture-if Indian writers and authors,an endangered species as they are,are not being promoted by the home film industry,Bollywood,then who will ?The current authors have a much better grasp of the Indian humour and emotions than their counterparts in the film industry who only know to make remixed copies of Hollywood flicks.So until Bhagat gets his due for the original story and fight it out in the courtroom as Chopra has decided to sue him,let us us all pledge to stand by him if the verdict were to be decided on an online poll and defeat this evil nexus of REAL 3 IDIOTS-RAJU HIRANI,AAMIR KHAN and VIDHU VINOD CHOPRA.

Tapeswar Paul.

here I am this is me nowhere in this world I'll rather be
here I am just me and you together we can make our dreams come true