Dead end

The end is only when you stop moving ahead..

Michael Jackson

The legend passed away leaving a mourning world behing. Death does change things.
It was only a few years ago that MJ was being labelled with child abuse, money problems, family problems, kid problems etc. Today when he's nomore, people are yearning to see him moon walk the stage. This is the real world!!

Why do we humans like to kill a person's spirit and reduce him to a rubble, when he'd rather be a happy n famous personality? Jealousy, intolerance, cut throat competition and riches are to be blamed. Success is indeed demanding.

MJ paid the ultimate price for his popularity. He lived a vibrant life and did what he was best at - singing and entertaing. MTV has dedicated songs exclusively to the grand master and as I hear the songs, I try to decipher the lyrics. I did manage to get a few words of his song.. That would make me sound dumb, I know, but that's how it is. I was never an MJ enthusiast. Honestly, his music never sounded like music to me! much to the disappointment of my friends and siblings. In fact I was disowned by my bro for not knowing the moon walking steps. Though, there are a few exceptions, a few songs that i find worth listening. His moon walking steps and dance moves were exceptional too.

He has gone away to another world, a world where no man would haunt him. He could be up there somewhere, maybe on the moon, walking on the still sands. His footprints may not be visible, but the music he created will ring in the air for eternity..

Rath Yatra

The scorching sun had shone all day but the enthusiasm of the devotees wasn't dampened. Artificial showers had been arranged for by the authorities and was a welcome idea. The day was long and sunny but by evening rains drenched the state and washed away the dirt strewn all over. It wasn't only the streets that had been cleaned. Parched souls and tired minds sighed a relief. All this on a day when Lord Jagannath embarks on his yearly trip to Gundicha temple, the residence of his mausi.

It was the second time that I would have the chance of watching a spectacle that draws more than 5 lakh people to it each year. I have been told it went up to 8 lakhs this year. The people transcend barriers of caste, colour, state or country. The first time I went to watch the chariot roll on the 'Bada danda' (grand road) was more 17 years ago. It was a memory that had been lost somewhere in the years I toiled to make a home. I watched the ritual on TV year after year and told myself that I wasn't missing out on anything, (so I thought!!) This year, the proximity to Puri from the place where I live, had me wanting to go and witness the Rath yatra once again. It would turn out to be a battle of sorts was something I would discover later, but when I came to know I could actually go I was more than happy.

We were among the priviliged lot (ahem!!) and got a backdoor entry into the temple. It wasn't the first time that I had been to the temple and yet the excitement was writ all over my face. Lord Jagannath was to be carried to the chariots waiting for him at the temple gate and the crowds chanted his name. Cymbals, drums, conches all added to the religious fervour. I waded throught the sea of people, into the temple. Catching a glimpse of the deity was beyond imagination but I had to see it. So, I patiently sweated along with the other devotees. Men women children all stood there with folded hands. Some people were so overwhelmed that they could not stop their tears. Lord Balram and Shubhadra had been moved out and it was finally time for the Lord to be brought out. He emerged and I realised why people cried when they saw him..

He is undoubtedly the most well marketed God of the Hindu culture. Which other God could gather 8 lakh people each year!!? None.. The Pandas of Puri are the marketing managers who have very smartly created a halo around the temple. The government has tried various means to create a systematic infrastructure for the temple but all their pleas have been turned down by the ever so dominant Pandas( pandits). The temple continues to be the industry that employs people for cooking, performing religious functions, maintenance of the temple etc.. Foreigners and non hindus aren't allowed into the temple which tends to get embarassing at times, especially if it is a friend who is with you. The city of Puri can hardly be referred to as a city. It is only the road leading to the temple that has been widenend. The rest of the city can easily claim a name into the world heritage site list. The dusty lanes, the shady huts along the road, the broken bridges, and an overcrowded beach.. Any kind of development is only in the form of resorts along the beach. The ritual called 'Chera Pohra' 9cleaning the floor with a broom) is performed by the Puri Maharaja (maharaja!!) which shows how people refuse to move ahead from the past. The feaudalistic fire is fuelled in the name of tradition, something which needs to be done away with. Nandini Satpathy, ex Chief Minister had tried her best to do away with the system but the pandas revolted and the chariot wasn't made to move.

A temple that has withstood the ordeal of trying times and good and bad weathers under different regimes has very few of it's originality left. Two portions of the temple are now cemented and painted red and white. It is only the main dome that is left with the carvings. It's only a matter of time when the temple could crumble down. What then would be the plight of the residents of Puri dham. The state government needs to take a decisive and swift action and renovate the temple and systemize the entire temple activities to keep pace with the times. Religion should be a guide to living but when religion become life, life becomes tough. Those who live through it know it too well.

Better said than done! It would take a visionary leader from among the religious gurus who could work out a miacle and take the state away from the state of poverty that hovers over it. Lord Jagannath, is the only person who can do it, because he has the numbers (8 lakhs). each year, year after year, the numbers increase. He will come to the rescue, I do believe..

Flowers

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.
- Emma Goldman

losers yet again - T 20 '09

Sri Lanka lost the game. Pakistan won it. India sat back in introspection - dazed and agonized. It's one thing to lose but to see your enemy win is hardly palatable. To see Pakistan win a match has never been easily accepted by me(not any Indian i'm sure!) but they did. I remember a Pakistani cricketer promising that they would take away the T 20 cup in 2009.. They kept their promise. Sri Lanka played well too but were made to bow out.

The Don of Indian cricket - our very own Sachin Tendulkar sat thru the match and seemed to enjoy it. (Isn't it an irony that the world's best cricketer has never won a World cup!!)I thought it was more of a preparation match for him. He must have started preparing himself to be able to voice what he sees on the ground, rather than break more records. He smiled and clapped at the good shots as the Indian TV channels cried fowl about BCCI and tried to explain the folly of the BCCI and skipper Dhoni.

An injured Indian team isn't acceptable by a nation that is easily forced into burning effigies of players who return as losers. We aren't a nation of easy losers when it comes to Cricket and all this because of the money and time involved in the game. It is sad to see cricketers struggling to keep pace with the number of matches being played. They have their health at stake and yet play on. The insecurity of the team selection makes them cover up their injuries.

Is the IPL really a good idea after all? I do not think so and if they must still carry on with the game then it must be done over a span of 2 years rather than making it a yearly phenomenon.

Let team football and team hockey play money matches for a change!! It isn't uncommon in parts various of the country. Kids and youngsters in eastern part of the country often spend their sunday's playing competition matches(football). It could be a matter of time and there would hopefully be a Lalit Modi for other games. Hope is something we must hang on to..

Am I kidding myself or what!!!!!!

movies are back

I am suffering from the 'No new movie syndrome' There is a sudden lull in life and nothing to look forward to. Now that the tiff between the producers and the theatre owners is off, the wait fr movies will finally end.

swine flu may be creating havoc in the minds of people. Health ministry is in a daze and clueless of what they ought to do. "We cannot have all passengers checked" said some health ministry official. Well, we are in India, Sir. 'Yahan sab adjust ho jaaenge'

We are used to other scarier health terms like Dengue, malaria, typhoid, plague, Bird flu and worst of all poverty.. the list is endless.. Swine flu is also welcome because - that disease will also pass.. It might take with it a few lives, but then it's just a few lives after all. As long as we are safe, do we really care about others?? Why am I typing away in anonymity when I should be hankering after the politicians to create a healthy country.

I am not shouting my lungs out because I presume the politicians are aware of the catastrophe these diseases could create. For the time being I will rest my mind and relax and wait for the big screen to buzz back some colours and music into the world.

Kings of good times

Life is a roller coaster ride for the human race. It may be a circus for the universe; with the stars, planets and satellites waltzing around in harmony. However, the lesser mortals who walk the streets each day and break their backs to get themselves and their king sized families a decent meal, end up with king sized families which is a result of liquor that takes over their brain after. A daily dose of the intoxication usually rids them of the brutal assaults of the daily grind. The numb senses play havoc and after a point relax their charred emotions. The outcome is a wailing bundle wrapped in tatters. More mouths to feed and a sick looking woman to tend to everyone's needs. These low-waged, tired folks are the harbingers of king sized clans that encompass relatives in hordes - sisters and brothers, uncles and aunts etc.


The people who toil hard earn the tan. The money however, flows away from them and reaches the barrels of the Kings of Good times. The eternal King of good times in India is the effervescent Vijay Mallya. The owner of Kingfisher brand of beer, Kingfisher Airlines and God know what not? His companionship with money is an envy for all. The rise of the beer baron was catapulted into limelight by the media which had got it's new head turner. Only this time it wasn't some slim bodied model walking out of a steamy scene, as seen in the glossy magazines. It was, on the contrary, a man of slight heavy built, a salt and pepper beard and most of all a Kking sized pocket that never ran dry. That he would have a bevy of ladies walking in their bare minimals and even posing for calendars and posters; if his name was attached to a project, is another story.


In my pursuit to gain more info rmation on the kings of good times; I googled to find the name of Avinash Bhosale, a Pune based builder, who is fast gaining a reputation for himself. He has a fascination for all good things in life and has a craze for cars.Another name labelled by the media is that of Sanjay Gupta, the director of Bollywood as the King of good times of Bollywood. Why he was named so isn't quite known. I would have voted for Feroze Khan to be nominated as the one who ruled good times in Bollywood. The man's flamboyant existence and bindaas attitude was a style none in the country could ape.


Media endorses certain rich and powerful people with tags that people aren't able to shrug off. These rich people who bask in the glory of their royal aura - a creation by the media aren't able to shrug their new found status. In the pursuit they run after more money. With more money comes more desires and with more desires, the want to spend it in style. Style then becomes a necessity and to maintain their entities the rich find new ways and means to earn more. It turns into an unending cycle. Do they really never cry? Don't they ever suffer? How do they always smile? are questions that are never asked. The rich live in denial of their pains and the media harps on the lines spoken by the men/women who drive the world. After all who wants to be remembered for his days of distress?

The facade becomes the identity and the smile - permanent. The other emotions roll over and bow for attitude to take over. Good times get synonymous with the names who drive the big cars, own air planes, live in palatial houses and get richer. They rule the good times and Kings they are. Time takes it's tide and kingdoms are taken over by others - others, who have the zeal to appear positive against all odds - after all that's what kings are made of.

Salma Hayek - Frida Kahlo

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo

Paintings of Frida Kahlo

Salma Hayek in the movie 'Frida'

Salma Hayek as Frida

I happened to pick up a few DVD's and one of them happened to be a series on Salma Hayek, the mexican born Hollywood actress who has her roots somewhere in Germany. The first movie I watched was 'Breaking up' and wasn't much impressed. Her accent couldn't trap the intelligent side of my brain, nor was her luscious figure an impressing factor. The scenes meant to tittilate minds only had me irritated. The whole concept of people breaking up is so common. Yes! so people break up, so what's the big deal!! Life doesn't stop even for death.

But, four movies down and i chanced upon 'Frida', the story of the artist Frida Kahlo, and it stuck to my heart. It was like Salma Hayek was Frida herself. Such intense emotions were so beautifully portrayed that I was moved to tears. It was after a long time that I thoroughly enjoyed a movie. The love story of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo (both artists par excellence) is moving. The sacrifices they make, the testing time and the perseverance to go on all make up for a classic movie.

A list of Salma Hayek movies:
Breaking up
Bandidas
After the sunset
Once upon a time in Mexico
Frida
Desperado

Bald - beautiful?

You run away from the past, trying to flee from the clutches of thoughts that haunt you, and then, one fine day when you are brought to face your future - you realise there was nothing to run away from. A rare photograph, some acquaintance or some witten matter can make the memories flow. We are mere puppets - dancing to the tunes of the music we do not possess the power to play.

I chanced upon a photograph of mine - cropped hair and all. Smart yes, but I do not seem happy. It doesn't seem much of an issue today if I say I had short hair, but it was a big deal way back, when I was a kid. I remember my Mom's obsession of getting my head shaved every year. For the first decade that i walked the earth, my wish was consistently and at regular occasions brought under the knife . It turned out to be the most embarassing decade of my life. By the time I could feel beautiful, I had the barber attack me with the 'ustra'(barber's knife). A swish here and a swash there and it was done. My head shone like a white egg and though my eyes would boil with rage, there wasn't any reaction from the tormentor. A decent hair chopping ceremony would have given me a lesser heart ache but then mother's are your life bearers and they like to live with the notion that they know best! They think they know all and explaining anything to them is like talking to the wall.. (read banging your head on the wall).

The intentions were purely motivated with my welfare in mind and I remember being told that I would have hair that would flow in tresses - the beauty of which would be unsurpassable. I was too much into reading fairy tales and the character of Rapunzel would come alive for me. Me with long tresses, wow! I would smile at myself and imagine what I would look like when I grew up. I had thrown a tantrum and refused to give in to my mother's pursuits when I turned ten, and that was the last of my bald days. Bald can be beautiful too.

I remember a certain Nafisa Ali, who shaved her head and looked as glamorous as she does now. Her political campaigning and age hasn't dared to age her. There were Persis Khambata (star trek)and certain other models who dared to rid their heads of the beautiful tresses. North India raves and rants about the act of bravery that a woman commits by shaving her head off. Go down south and you are in for a shocker. Visit any hindu relegious place and there are bald heads bobbing up and down. They walk around like nothing has changed - men, women, children all alike. It's done to show gratitude to the Gods after a wish is fulfilled. Little do they realise that they are contributing to an industry that wouldn't benefit them in anyway. Indians! such simpletons! Do God's make wigs?? well! My hair never grew beyond shoulder length, simply because I could never muster up the patience to watch it grow, so, swish - swash.

My Rapunzel dream hasn't been realised but who knows what the future holds? I might have long hair or better still, just vent out my impatience and go bald.

A poem by 'Rumi'

The name Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi stands for Love and ecstatic flight into the infinite. Rumi is one of the great spiritual masters and poetical geniuses of mankind and was the founder of the Maulawi Sufi order, a leading mystical brotherhood of Islam..

Oh, if a tree could wander

and move with foot and wings!

It would not suffer the axe blows

and not the pain of saws!

For would the sun not wander

away in every night ?

How could at ev?ry morning

the world be lighted up?

And if the ocean?s water

would not rise to the sky,

How would the plants be quickened

by streams and gentle rain?

The drop that left its homeland,

the sea, and then returned ?

It found an oyster waiting

and grew into a pearl.

Did Yusaf not leave his father,

in grief and tears and despair?

Did he not, by such a journey,

gain kingdom and fortune wide?

Did not the Prophet travel

to far Medina, friend?

And there he found a new kingdom

and ruled a hundred lands.

You lack a foot to travel?

Then journey into yourself!

And like a mine of rubies

receive the sunbeams? print!

Out of yourself ? such a journey

will lead you to your self,

It leads to transformation

of dust into pure gold!