Yet, I’ll be posting a travelogue covering our journey to Pindari-Kafni Glacier, Nainital, Delhi and places in between. Also I’m busy now sprucing up my Ajax Picture Gallery so that I can post the hundreds of beautiful pictures which we took while on the trip.

Keep watching

2) It has to be an entry to the Oscars 2009.

3) It depicts the backlash Muslims faced after 9/11.

These were the only notions which I had before I went to see the movie – Khuda Kay Liye – In the Name of God. I had no clue about the history of its director Shoaib Mansoor, his multi-talented background, nor was I aware of the reason he made this movie, until I bumped into this blog post by Adnan Siddiqui. Now as I am a bit more learned about the circumstantial aspects of the movie, the inspiration behind the character played by one of the main protagonists – Sarmad , i.e. Fawad Khan, and the hullaboo (read: outrage) regarding the subject of the movie in Pakistan, I guess I can give a better shot at narrating what I experienced.

The movie has 2 parallel plots running – based on the experiences of 2 young brothers, who come from a so-called modern and unorthodox financially well-off Pakistani family. Both the brothers are into music and while the elder choses to go to the US to attend a course in music, the younger brother is inspired by an influential Islamic cleric – who is said to depict the real life Maulana Tariq Jamil, and foregoes his love for music and eventually is brainwashed to become a Mujahideen fighting for the cause of the fundamentalists supporting the likes of Taliban.

However different paths were chosen by both, destiny had the same irony in store for them – being USED in the name of God, albeit in completely different geographies, starkly opposite social and economic backgrounds and being victimised to such an extent that even the most gruesome acts of inhumanity would be put to shame. A 3rd victim of the whole fuss was a British born Pakistani girl, 1st cousin of the brothers, whose character threw light on the medieval treatment still being meted out to women in many parts of the world, especially in conservative societies.

What makes the efforts of the director a feat ever unheard-of, is the conviction which he showed in the subject and had the audacity to not only complete the movie, but release it as well in Pakistan and around the world to an astounding critical acclaim. Seldom has an artist dared to touch such tantalizing issues which are no less sensitive than a ticking bomb, and in societies such those of India/Pakistan, where self-acclaimed guardians of the religious/moral values are always on the prowl to harp on anything which displeases their hollow and chauvinistic ideologies (or lack thereof?), such heroics are all the more commendable.

The issues addressed were plenty – position and rights of women in a Muslim society, the conflicting views on the inclusion of arts and music in what is called Halaal in a Muslim society, fundamentalism being preached in the name of God, violence being retorted to belittle one’s enemies, the various codes of conducting oneself with regards to dressing and appearance as per Islam, etc. Apart from these, which would irk any average Muslim devout (as I’ve been witnessing in this case), there were other issues raised too – the ones which tried to show Muslims in a light, most non-Muslims fail to see. The misconceptions regarding them which westerners have had, particularly after the 9/11, the oppression which many had to undergo just because you have a surname similar to Khan or Ali, or simply because you are a Pakistani citizen, even today the situation is not so easy for Muslims around the world – these are the areas which the director interspersed fantastically well with his depiction of the more controversial. But unfortunately, people as always prefer to nitpick only matters which can generate more buzz and cause less good.

I won’t go into the details of the movie plot or what happened of the characters, partly because it is much more than a movie – an experience which one should see for himself to get aware of the facts, and partly because the finesse of the craftsmanship on view is beyond any words. Myself being a non-Muslim, I have been close to many a Muslim friends, peers and have been among people who hated Muslim-haters, was intrigued by seemingly strange characteristics of Islam, and of late had been critical (rather skeptical) of what most of us believe it preaches – was taken aback by the mind-numbing sequence of events as they unfolded during the movie.

It definitely was a food for thought for hardliner Muslims, fundamental Muslim-haters and moderates alike, as the legendary Naseeruddin Shah deposed in court to deliver about 10 minutes of what according to me should be made a compulsory read/listen not only for Muslims, but also for Hindus, Jews, Christians and all those who are still refuse to open their eyes and see what the reality is, rather prefer to mould the preachings of their sacred texts to satisfy their mythical traditions. For one, nothing that does not cause any harm to anyone, and further provides a way of life to many, can be classified as being blasphemous, whatever might be the interpretation by the people.

Obviously I’m no Islamic scholar and have no authority over their religious preachings, but surely I can sense that the beliefs which are said to be the WORD OF GOD have been misconstrued since centuries to falsify the only truth that is humanity. Ditto can be said of almost every religion, however, such intensity of fanaticism and unawareness is rarely witnessed among them.

If only such cinema can be dared to be made in more places and more frequently, and people actually be allowed to learn what they can and should, and not what they mustn’t construe of something which is not there in the fist place – we can have a better world to give to generations to come. Only after watching RDB was I so stunned that I deemed it much more than a movie. If it was something that made a generation awaken w.r.t India, then KKL is something which should make the world awaken w.r.t. religious fundamentalism.

Hats off to Shoaib Mansoor.

Ant & Grasshopper

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and
laying up supplies for the winter.

The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the
summer away.

Come winter ,the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or
shelter so he dies out in the cold.

Indian Version

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and
laying up supplies for the winter.

The Grasshopper thinks the Ant’s a fool and laughs & dances & plays the
summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands
to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others
are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper
next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with
food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor
Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant’s house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that
Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Indian Government for
not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the
Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support
as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .

Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for ‘Bharat Bandh’ in
West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in
the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and
Grasshoppers.

BJP wants Sonia Gandhi’s apology.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway
Trains, aptly named as the ‘Grasshopper Rath ‘.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ‘ Prevention of Terrorism
Against Grasshoppers Act’ [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the
winter.

Arjun Singh makes ‘Special Reservation ‘ for Grasshoppers in Educational
Institutions & in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left
to pay his retroactive taxes,it’s home is confiscated by the Government and
handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it ‘ A Triumph of Justice’.

Lalu calls it ‘Socialistic Justice ‘.

CPM calls it the ‘ Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden ‘

Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

..
..

Many years later…

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar
company in Silicon Valley ..

100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere
in India …
As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the
Grasshoppers, India is still a developing country!!!

यह लेख मेरा अपनी मात्रिभाशा हिन्दी मे प्राथम लेख है. इसके द्वारा मैं अपने इस जर्नल में एक हिन्दी कैटेगेरी आरम्भ कर रहा हूँ, जिसमें मैं क्षमतानुसार योदान करता रहूंगा. हमेशा से ही मैं हिन्दी भाशा में इंटरनेट पर कुछ करना चाहता था, परन्तु आज प्रथम बार उस विचार का क्रियान्वन करने मे सफल हुआ हूँ. आशा है आप पाठकों को मेरा यह प्रयास पसन्द आयेगा एवं आप भी मुझे प्रोत्साहित करेंगे.

आपका,

नवीन

Churchill had said – Democracy is the mechanism to ensure that people get governed by a government no better than what they deserve. But unfortunately in India, and more specifically, in West Bengal & Kolkata, the same holds true other way round too. With people so glad to be puppeteered by the power-mongering parasites camouflaging as politicians, added to the fact that illiteracy, poverty, blind faith and lack of respect for humanity take precedence over civic sense, humanity and self-respect, no force in the world can bring about an atmosphere of civilisation. If you widen your eyes and push back your chairs to ask me if ain’t what we live in, is civilisation, I’d say – NO. Not by the farthest stretch of imagination.

Had it been, I wouldn’t have been writing this in the first place. Now, cutting on the
prelude, let’s take a look at what happened. An Islamic organisation called All India Minority Forum (in India, the word minority = Muslims) , which is not even known by people (i.e. minorities) in Kolkata itself, let alone ALL INDIA (as its name suggests), decided to organise a CHAKKA JAM (Road Blockade) between 9 AM – 12 Noon in Central Kolkata, which is the nerve center of the city with many arterial roads leading to schools, offices etc.

This protest was against the Communist West Bengal State Government for allowing Taslima Nasreen to stay in Kolkata. Here there are few things worth mentioning, which are the crux of the matter.

1) It is a prerogative of the Central Union Government and NOT the West Bengal State Government to decide who is going to stay in the country and who not

2) It’s not been that Taslima came into Kolkata recently, in fact she has made Kolkata her home since long time back, so why the protests now?

3) By parading a rowdy group of people which consisted mostly of teenagers and people who don’t even know what the dynamics of the situation are, what could have been achieved in the matter, if anything at all?

Incidentally these areas of central Kolkata also house a vast density of minorities in various pockets. After a couple of hours of peaceful protests, no matter how much trouble they cause to general public at large, violence started erupting suddenly as mobs starting chanting slogans laced with religious sentiments and started to pelt stones at shops, vehicles, and whatever they could see. In fact, more than 15 vehicles, including 4 Media vans, were set ablaze, more than 200 vehicles smashed and damaged and many journalists beaten up. They tried their best to prevent the media from covering the deadly dance of chauvinism and the rampage only increased.

Without any valid cause, people were barred from moving around, kids stuck up at schools and colleges, shops looted and hooliganism portrayed throughout the day. After the police could not control the situation, para military forces were brought which fired tear gas bullets and lathicharged, but even that couldn’t sort the menace out. So the last resort had to be taken in the form of Army which staged a flag march to dampen the ill spirits of the demonstrators and reinstated peace to some extent.

Night curfew has been imposed in the 6 affected localities of Central Kolkata – Entally, Beniapukur, Karaya, Topsia, Park Sreet and Tiljala.

Under the guise of Nandigram, Rizwanur and Taslima, a handful of people today carried out the wishes of unscrupulous anti-social elements, whose intention to de-stabilize the state government seem to be getting larger and larger. Already the state of West Bengal is cursed with a government which in its reign of 30 years has done nothing but hammering nails in the coffin of the state’s fate and that of its people, complemented by an even worse opposition political culture where the only wise activity seems to be rallies, bandh, protests, agitations and every other anti-people activity which take us further down the barrel.

What is more appalling is that the majority of people of West Bengal, be it Hindus, Muslims, Communists or whatever, have imbibed this culture so deeply and religiously, that any attempt to awaken them is futile. The world is moving at the speed of light, so are West Bengal and its people, but in the opposite direction.

Leaving REAL ISSUES aside, like those of poverty, agriculture, industry, unemployment, terrorism, population etc. the masses deem it fit enough to cast their support in favour either the so-called people-oriented government, or the good-for-nothing except bocking roads and organising rallies, political oppositions, both of them having only one motive: continue making a fool out of the junta and taking the state as far away from civilisation as possible.

Where the Shahi Imam himself says after such horrendous acts as of today – “This was no violence, this was raising of our voices against anti-Islamic forces”, and where another leading religious leader proudly gives the government 2 days of time for corrective action, else warns of dire consequences, where the most inconsequential temporary immigration of a foreign author takes centre stage beating back the more serious concerns like health, wealth and hygiene of one’s own people, and where widespread violence and vandalism is followed by its justification as a means to CLEANSE the society – WE ARE LIVING IN SUCH A STATE.

SHAME.

Whoever wanted DEMOCRACY in this country…….

KOLKATA DURGA PUJA IMAGES – DAY 2

CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO SEE FULL SIZE

A SMALL BUT BEAUTIFUL PUJA ON C.I.T. ROAD

A traditional Santhal dance being performed in front of pandal

Decorative lanterns on trees

A 12 storey Vodafone banner at Ekdalia!

DESHAPRIYA PARK (Google Maps)

A replica of he famous TIRUPATHI Temple in Andhra Pradesh, India

The idol at Deshapriya Park

PARK CIRCUS

Replica of the famous Golden Temple, Amritsar, India

The Goddess at Park Circus

As I had promised, I’m back with more pictures of the breathtaking Durga Puja scene in Kolkata right now. The fervour is electrifying and the craftsmanship simply scintillating. It seems as if the whole of Kolkata is out on the streets (it actually is!) during Pujas, and the sights throughout the night remain the same, forcing you to believe that the clock has stopped! Anyways, I’ll cut the crap and below are the snaps of Golpark, Ekdalia Evergreen in Gariahat, Singhi Park opposite the former

CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO SEE FULL SIZE

GOLPARK (Google Maps)

THE EKDALIA ENTRANCE -GARIAHAT (Google Maps)

Awesome illumination work

The huge pandal from a distance

Must have been thousands out there!

The traditional Durga idol at Ekdalia

Chandelier!!

RELATIVELY SMALL PUJA OF PHALGUNI SANGHA, BESIDE EKDALIA

SINGHI PARK, BANG OPPOSITE EKDALIA

Its Halloween time!!

Is it Durga Puja or Vodafone Puja!!

The magnificent Singhi Park deity

Intricate artistry inside the pandal

HINDUSTAN CLUB PUJA, BEHIND SINGHI PARK

It was Mahasasthi, 1st day of the famous Durga Puja and I ventured out in the evening for some pandal hopping. Didn’t cover much, but saw 3 famous Pujas of South Kolkata. Below are some of the pictures I took with my cellphone. Will be posting more and soon, better quality pictures taken from digicam.

CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO SEE FULL SIZE

PANDAL IN ANANDA PALIT (in my locality – Google Maps)

IDOL AND PANDAL NEAR LAKE TEMPLE ROAD, SOUTHERN AVENUE (Google Maps)

SHIV MANDIR PUJA COMMITTE – LAKE TEMPLE ROAD (Google Maps)

Brilliant Lighting arrangements!

The Puja theme is awesome – intricate artistry

It is Rotating!

The Main Pandal

On the walls

The Idol

LAKE YOUTH CORNER – BESIDE SHIV MANDIR

The pandal has been designed like a Banyan Tree!

And its all earth! Clay cups used for construction!

The Best Idol I saw yet

MUDIALI (Google Maps)

A PUJA IN A LAKE GARDENS PARK

LAKE SOUTH CLUB – LAKE GARDENS

THE FAMOUS JODHPUR PARK PUJA (Google Maps)

MY LOCALITY PUJA C.I.T ROAD (Google Maps)

Flash Movie Courtesy – http://www.friendskolkata.com/

Durga Puja, or better – Durga Pujo. You don’t need to be a Bengali by birth to know the significance of this great festival. People like myself, who have become de facto Bongs by the virtue of making Kolkata their home city, have long felt the fervour that prevails during the Pujas in this part of the world. The four days bring with them a lot more than joy, belief, celebration, shopping and what not. The city becomes the scene for the most electrifying display of artistry, faith, madness, populace and sheer awe, anyone can ever witness, anywhere. Thousands of pandals are setup in different themes housing Goddess Durga along with other Gods and Goddesses, and are thronged by millions of devotees from all over the globe all day all night. The craftsmanship is jaw dropping, illuminations – just scintillating, and crowds – maddening. Many people take this opportunity to have a vacation somewhere else, but its the bustling streets and lanes and by-lanes which reinstate the fact that India is a country driven by its culture, a culture so rich that in spite of all the wrong doings that blemish her almost every moment in some corner or the other, sanctity finds its way out to the open air and compels even the hard core atheists to simply stand and take notice!