Rang BARSE!!!:D!!!

HOLI HAI!!!

Holi is an important marker in the Hindu calendar. Different parts of the country have various significances associated with this date. But, for a kid…it is…simply… The festival of colours!!!

This blogger has tried to be at a different location for Holi every year, for the past couple of years. It always is a pleasant experience because EVERY place has its own unique ‘feel’ of Holi!!! This year, we headed to the famed and haloed campus of the JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY, New Delhi for being coloured!!!

It was an entirely dry ‘playing’, except for being sprinkled with some water by a young cousin. The festival had a somewhat ‘grown up’ feeling for us this time. It felt great saving a lot of water by not playing wet Holi. Of course, that also meant not having too much of residual colours on the skin!

While heading back home, we shared the auto-rickshaw with a Professor from Poland. He was all ga-ga over the festivities and colours! Someone told him that THIS playing in the campus was ‘civilised’. And he was wondering how would ‘uncivilised’ be then! Well, I gave him ample examples of how rowdy and crude could it get!

In conclusion, we had a nice, short and sweet ‘Holi’. It was truly 'RANG BARSE'...and no 'bheegi chunar'!!! NOTHING beats the Surat experience, though! The options for next year are already being contemplated!


PS: That guy was a Prof. of Sociology and Anthropology!!! Yes, we had common stuff to talk about !:P!

TEEN PATTI

HINDUJA VENTURES has made inroads into the Indian film industry with their film, TEEN PATTI. Amitabh Bachchan is the show-stealer. It’s a click flick with a skewed script! First-time director, LEENA YADAV has not done a very good job of narrating this thriller. Many scenes have shoddy camerawork and do not establish the location well. Songs in the film are nice, but OUT OF PLACE!!! There is the Brazilian bombshell Maria Gomes gyrating suggestively in an item number.

The ‘Casting Director’ of this film should have been named the ‘Networking Director’. Most of the cast belongs to the ilk which hobnobs with the Hindujas in London and Bombay. So we have everyone from super-model Saira Mohan to writer Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghavi showing off their ‘acting’ skills in whatever screen time they get. Ben Kingsley is BIG waste with nothing much to do! Maybe he DID have a lot to do, at least to establish his character, but that go chopped off on the editing table!:P!

The rest of the actors, new-comers…do a not-very-convincing job with their immature acting. It looks like they’ve ‘learnt’ acting and are now off to show their skills in this movie! it’s a just-about-okay film. The blogger has been told that ‘21’. The original in English from which this flick is inspired, is a better watch!

MNIK

My Name is...

The Great Bard had famously said… “WHAT’S in a NAME?!” Well, if we were to look in the contemporary world around us, there’s a LOT in every name. If it wasn’t enough in India, for sur-names to symbolise people’s caste and the whole baggage it carries, we now have a terror-struck globe. MY NAME IS KHAN is a contemporary tale of how there’s a LOT in a name.


This is a refreshingly different movie from the DHARMA stable. Quite a respite from Karan Johar’s usual candy-floss style of cinema with designer brush strokes! This one’s designer too, but it got a lot more depth beyond the beautiful visual imagery! This film marks the turning of a radically new leaf in the careers of both SRK n KJo. It can be read as both these powerful people taking a stand in their larger responsibility towards the society at large.


It’s the journey of Rizwan Khan, in a world not-so-kind to differently-abled people. And matters get worse after the WTC is perished in the 9/11 air attacks. Khan suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome. He cannot look straight into the eye while talking, stammers a little, has slight learning difficulties and other pet peeves but is resolute, nevertheless! The film keeps the viewer riveted, though the second half is a tad stretched.


The scene which struck the blogger was one where Khan throws his pebbles at a doctor in a mosque. This is symbolic of the stoning of the Satan, an integral part of Islamic tradition. The subtle incorporation and powerful portrayal of such a lore is deeply appreciated.


Kajol is as endearing as ever, and the lovely long jackets enhance her persona. SRK, for a change, REALLY goes way deep beyond the character’s skin. All other actors have done a fair job of justifying their roles. This film is a good example of the triumph of the just human spirit over all forms of prejudice and injustice.


In conclusion, this blogger believes that it is important to record the various happenings in society, in a variety of perspectives. Cinema is a very powerful medium to store what is tomorrow’s history. An array of narratives projecting the impact of the one common event is extremely necessary to have a rounded picture. KUDOS TO KJO n the entire MNIK team!:D!

"...AUTO!"

You've heard that shout quite often! Well...the private means of transport available in any place are one of the true mirrors of a city’s spirit. In India, the ubiquitous three-wheeler AUTORICKSHAW serves that purpose! This blogger has traveled in an ‘auto’ across many cities in the country.

The Jaipur drivers are polite and straight. They are game to go either by meter or pre-fix it. They do not haggle much over the rate and suggest something quite reasonable for the distance to be covered. Pune ones are rather vague to be judged. Their meters are read in a different manner. One driver didn’t bother to correct the blogger when he was paid extra, due to the usual way of reading the meter! And another one didn’t not exactly know the route to a certain location. But still managed to that place!!

In Mumbai, the financial capital of this country, autos are not allowed to run in all parts of the city. Only the suburbs have autos plying there. B-U-T…what awesome service?! Not an ounce of pride, quite well-mannered, and score very high on the comfort factor. They run strictly by meter, will rarely refuse to take you, never overcharge and have a no-nonsense approach to their job. This blogger once traveled from Andheri to IIT-Powai at the stroke of midnight and didn’t feel one bit insecure! What’s best…the driver didn’t throw any tantrum about night charges and I wasn’t over-charged by a single penny!

Bangalore drivers score low due to inadequacy to understand the national language well. They barely manage with broken Hindi or English! Hence the non-Kannada crowd faces a slight trouble with figuring out how much to pay! Apart from that, they are devoid of any airs, drive well, and are generally non-threatening!

The worst of the lot, of course, inhabit NEW DELHI. Being in the capital of a prosperous nation, these drivers could do with a lesson in decency and fairness! They are conceited about their position and think of the passenger as one who is born to be ‘taken for a ride’! They flatly refuse to go by meter, always quote a ridiculously high amount, come up with lame excuses like ‘we’ll have to go back empty’, and what not?! Some of them are shameless enough to have a smoke even while transporting a woman.

One in a fifty auto drivers in New Delhi is a genuine soul not interested in taking advantage of the female passenger’s situation. And when you come across that rare individual, you pray that next time we get an auto-wallah like this! Alas, that wish remains mostly unfulfilled! Similar is the situation with most locations in UP and Bihar.

So, the verdict is out. North Indian auto-drivers are a brusque lot. Mumbai ones score the highest for their service and comfort. Pune and Bangalore have a tie for the second position. And the Jaipur ones, ah! If only life was as uncomplicated as that city!

PS: "Just to add to your post, the auto drivers in Hydb are quite a painful lot...They usually refuse to go by the meter n when they do, beware cos they end up takin a really long route! In abt 5 yrs hv fought with many an auto driver here!" - Ashrita Prasad

RIDE ON!!!!!

Another interesting write-up on B'lore Autos http://in.news.yahoo.com/blogs/opinions/rickshaw-drivers-vampires-bengaluru-20110416-011923-819.html