Asmita - Asmita ki khoj mein

Venue : Indian Habitat Centre

Date : 31 May 2008

Time : 5 PM

Event : Asmita Group presents street play

It was a long Friday, stretched longer till Saturday morning in office, assisting Ankit in his work; 2 hours of sleep and up I went to greater Noida for some work with Prabhakar. Here goes the whole day. Tired and sleepy I request Prabhakar to visit IHC as we have Asmita group presenting street plays today, ah, street play, and I see those pictures in mind, kurtas, loud throats, social message, aggression, amazing actors, stunned audience, an observant director, many questions, few answers. Nostalgia, the word ‘street play’ triggered nostalgia.

The stage was set, and then there was this explosion! The first street play talking about road safety had around 25 artists, and the sudden outburst of energy shook the awaiting audience. ‘Gaddi jaandi hai chhalanga maar dee, ho mainnu yaad aaye mere yaaar dee’, the play very subtly talked about how indifferent everyone is about road safety in a highly crowded city like ours and how we deny to take control of whole situation. Be it the drunk truck driver, politically shielded bus driver, a young biker or just one of us walking on the road, it makes no difference to us whatsoever, until we become part of the victim list. Lack of thought, that’s all, traffic is such a wonderful example of the great Hindustani instinct of ‘we can but we won’t’.

The second one was called ‘Rahul Boxer’, and displayed ego VS ethics, how all of us want to prove a lot of things all the time. That urge to win, to exceed, to leave the world behind, irrespective of the ‘how’, we keep aiming. It’s a different world these days, more competitive, more needs, more desires, higher aims, lower reasons! We are living it, kind of. This was done by a few novices, and considering this, it was wonderful.

The third one, again by a few other novices talked about a young rape victim, a ten year old school girl, who was raped by her tuition teacher. Time and time again, questions have been raised on the respect rape victims must receive from police, judiciary and the society, still many unanswered questions revoked. Let alone successful trials of rapists, I am not even sure if the number of rape cases registered are even a fraction of total rapes that happen in a society which feeds everyone with dignity and pride, teaches every man to walk with high head and broad chest. They say the world is nearing its end, I say it hasn’t yet evolved fully, and it’s still a man’s world.

The fourth and the last play again talked about violence again women, and primarily talked about eve teasing and domestic violence, about the grand male ego and their ‘needs’ from their woman. There are times when people compare American marriages to Indian marriages and feel proud that we have such a small divorce ratio, I believe that this isn’t something to feel proud about but to worry about. The main reason behind all this is lack of aggression from the females, their acceptance, and their diffidence! Things may be changing, and changing for the better, but even today, girls are fed with the thought that their husband will be their god, I never heard somebody telling a guy something even similar about his to-be. Had there been any more resistance and a little less acceptance from women, the divorce rate would get higher, but again the dependency matrix and the ethical grooming keeps them away from any revolts. Evolution is not even mid way.

Thanks to Asmita theatre group and Arvind Gaur jee for such a day. It leaves me sad at the end of all such events, thinking what am I doing? I know I am lazy but I know that if I keep looking I will find the way sooner or later, back to hunting!

Look, I was tagged, yipppeeee!!!

Thank you Desi, thanks a lot!!!!

The best TAG ever, better than royal sTAG and or Guru TAGore or Mars atTAG or two shots of TAGila or Dagny TAGgart or any other TAGnical possibility. This is absolutely meaningless, no questions, no tastes, no favourite magazines and good-things-about-your-neighbours-puppy, it’s a say-whatever-you-want-to-say or a no-one-gives-a-damn-to-logic-and-sanity kinds.

I have been wandering since my early blogging days that how long can I keep my natural instinct of speaking out bullshit and meaningless phrases away from this medium of expression and I think that this is the right platform for me to start HARDCORE BULLSHITTING here as well, and this is the genesis of the category BAKAR, the hardcore reality, the reason for mediocre existence and the ultimate route to the divine and the shortcut to the six thousand years of tapasya, standing one legged on a himalaya peak for moksha

Shut up shut up shut up!!!! Ohh it was meant to be a tag, so here goes the details :-

The love-link tag. The Love-link Tag is another of those Linky Love game where you only have to tag 10 person in one post but still there is no actual limit (you can tag more if you want!).
Once tagged, you have to copy paste the link in this post, and make them grow! Do not delete any of the links and be honest to yourself! Copy paste the link in this post, and make them grow!

BennyLiew, RamblingMoo, Mum & Kids In Wonderland, Judelittle, Our mini blogsphere, Rooms in My Heart, http://janiceng.blogspot.com/, ChinNee, Jo-N, LadyJava’s Lounge, Strange but True, Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery, Meet Uncle J-Uncle J, Farah, aNgRiAniWoRLd, How’s Life Bout, The Three Heroes, Ceedy, Veena, Vandita, Cuckoo, desh, dk, (here goes your name)

So pick up the tag if you want to, add your own twist to it and lets see how it goes on.

I tag,

Ankit, Luthra, compulsiveWriter, Naresh, Aditi, Neha, Naveen

btw, i was tagged earlier as well, randomness

Cheeeeeeeeers!!!

Pentropy, yet another name!

If you keep digging, there is a very high probability that you will find answers, and here i find another definition of what I used to think is my brain child

pentropy (pen-tro-pee) n. The tendency for the ballpoint pens at rest on your desk to suddenly and surreptitiously take flight, until none remain. (Once thought to be the result of filching co-workers, now believed attributable to the inexorable contraction of the universe.)

hahaha, thanks to The BradLands

What the … media!!!!

Every time there is an important news hovers around on our television screen, it give me an unavoidable muse to pen down some agitation on media, and now its high time for both media and my part to get it done. ‘Arushi Hatyakaand’ is all over the place on media. A teenage girl was suspiciously killed a few days back and police was investigating the whole issue. But the judiciary of this country has moved out of the courts and now stays in cameras owned by few television news channel and in mikes of few young (they call themselves) journalists and news reporters.

It is wonderful to see the rise of media in this nation, and I would say that it is good luck for both the media and the crowd that today media is so strong, but what is this strength being used to, where is the focus pointing towards. All the news are not presented as news or something which should help people one, get aware of what is going around in our surroundings and in wider geography, second, helping people, police and judiciary to arrive at conclusions which may help in solving tricky issues and third, awakening the crowd to the things they have been blind so far (certainly not the scare-them-all-sansani way). The focus is on handpicking news which can be converted into ’stories’ (and this word is as literal as metaphorical here), adding a lot of drama in it, music effects and picture effects to a sense shaking effect (this is what we call technical advancements, futuristic technologies) and most importantly they are able to hit the market, they have their money, their advertisements, their viewers, and above all their TRP. Kudos, you are such winner in life.
And sadly enough, a tired day worker, a young school going kid and a frustrated housewife ‘follow’ these news closely with a presumably intense sympathy, which isn’t anything but sheer curiosity. And, no better example of the same but ‘Arushi Hatyakaand’, everyone wants to know ‘kya chal raha hai?’ with this story getting new twists and turn every now and then, everyone is so curious about every minute detail that is being investigated. This surely sets sky-high expectations for the police and others working on the issue.

The electronic media market has expanded like the universe, and there is no stopping to this big bang, this has openly called up for work force, a very large number indeed. And all this has been quite sudden from a nation’s point of view, but the nation has responded very well at one of the two layers of this need. Layer one, the people who are going out finding news, they are eager and jubilant people, got lots of energy and they want to use this adrenaline rush to very actively do whatever’s being told to them.  But, Layer two, the decision takers, the ones telling these young people to do what they are doing, where the hell have they drowned their brains. How do they come up with idea of showing ‘mera Khali ghar aaya’ or ‘Chhat par billi chadhee’, while you are doing all this, doesn’t this thought ever click you ‘what the fk am i doing?’, if one is so blind to the things he is doing himself, how do we expect him to be a sane eye which shows us the world.
Few of these news channels are giving a bad name to media and they need monitoring, journalism is still one of the most meaningful occupation one can get into, every day of your life adds value to this world, it is so different from something mundane like software engineering (come on diwakar don’t say that, you love your job, don’t you!!!), and with such an opportunity at hand if you let it go, its sad for both the giver and taker. But, this shall also pass by, as we know that ‘Change is inevitable’.

Vijay Mallya ko gussa kyun aata hai??

Bangalore plays Punjab today, in a tie which is crucial for Punjab and indifferent for Bangalore, as they get ready to lose yet another match.

My biggest mistake was to trust Rahul Dravid and Charu Sharma for team selection

I had my own set of players to choose but in cricket sadly you have to go by what the captain wants. It was only later that when I talked to friends that they told me that the team more looks like a Test XI than a T20 team. Rahul said that a Test team can perform in any environment

You are considered one of the most intelligent businessman of the country. You are also a very crook industrialist. And, you are spending some 500 Crore rupees to buy a team which you think will yield you high profits (thats an obvious reason, there could be other hidden motives which I find hard to comprehend) and then, you get a team which is totally out of contrast from what is required to win a T20 championship. The team has players I love to watch, but I would never have them in my T20 team. For me, a Yousuf Pathan will always come before a Rahul Dravid in a T20 lineup, and if you ask me the best batsman in this world, Rahul may only be second to Sachin Tendulkar and that too because Sachin is Sachin!

But, you are blind enough to let others take all the decisions and now you hit back at them saying it was your mistake, sorry sir, but all you are doing right now is telling the world how you were cheated! Boss, are we bloody idiots who have nothing else to do. You must admit that you are beaten up by manoranjan’s daddy and you must stand up and say, it’s my fault.

You are a big shot and you may not do that, but we forgive all the arrogance and would still thank you for the beverages and the calendars. The nation would never get bored of bare flesh (thin, very thin indeed!) and ethanol, and you are selling the desires. At the end of it all, its just a game yaar, chill maadi

Calvin for the day

They were right when they said “Great men think alike”

Losing sleep over your dreams

I so much wanted to do this, now and ever! Sit at the centre of a crowded mall and brainshit. And its a dream come true. Here I am, at select citywalk and its 3 PM on a Sunday and I sit alone talking to myself. I have been a little insomniac lately and I can feel it in my head. Here I am surrounded by people, many many many people, many colours many countries, many styles, many tastes, they are all there. But I have a feeling that all these different looking souls have one thing inherently common in them; they are all desultory. Purposelessly walking on the marble which would shine like a mirror, drinking coffees costing more than a poor family’s unconsumed meal for a day, spending easily minted money on senseless movies and coming out laughing but unsatisfied, or they could be just trying to beat the heat in this comfortable, breathe easy temperature when its killing hot outside. Whatever could be the reason, it is pretty much clear that there is no reason at all and thus we have this extraordinary centre of commercial and social activity blossoming with targets, read people.

This place is pretty well designed to titillate all the senses. Its so full of colours and beauty that one’s eyes can’t deny a sparkle, for men and women there is a lot of organic and inorganic pleasure muse available here. There is music all over the place, and there will be places where it is of your taste, if you have any descriptive taste in music, then on an average if you stay here for 2 hours you will definitely find 9.5 songs of your choice being played at different corners of this mall. No need to mention the aroma, everybody who enters here tries to make it pretty sure that he or she doesn’t become the reason for any aberrance, everybody smells good here and the rest is taken care by the air conditioners and the sweet smell inducers installed all over the place. There would be probably a million cuisines that you can find here, perhaps ever more. For an illiterate vegetarian foody like me, it is even difficult to understand more than thirty percent of stuff that is being served here. Anyhow, I would surely mind spending my easy earned money on things I am unsure about. Did I cover all the senses yet, ahh touch! That’s something you have bring with yourself, like most of them did here. Come with your girlfriend or boyfriend, stay close, giggle, cuddle and this is world we wanted to live in. For unwanted singles like me, nothing much that can be done, the total romantic happiness on earth is constant and with the way sex ratio is decreasing in India, it is expected to go down only.

Hmm, good to see the changing face of this country, to see this phenomenal emergence of the great Indian middle class, the greatest army the world has ever seen. Thirty Five crore of them constantly looking to change the face of this world, and all this possible only by an individualistically driven motivation of each one of them. I am so much a part of this pool, perhaps somewhere at the centre of it. At times trying to run away from it, loving it, hating it. But this has created a lots of hysteria and a lot of imbalance. People have started running a lot, wanting more, as everybody’s dearest and electronically omnipresent king khan would say “thoda aur wish karo”. So, here we have these 35 crore people running faster wishing more and loosing sleep over their dreams!!!!

It may all be good for the world, I would have no problems with dreams but the world must have some sort of balance to sustain all these dreams. As long as the kid who sleeps on a sever pipe gets food everyday and is happy about his life, as long as no farmer suicides because mother nature denied the most hardworking of her sons food, as long as the world of a girl is not forced to end in a womb, as long as no one in a far village dies of a mild fever only because he could not buy a crocin, as long as all this happens I will not find life gloomy inside these malls surrounded with great babes with deep cleavage and hot dudes with yo hair styles. Otherwise, this hysteria will keep haunting me, more because of my inability than their disinterest.

Thirty five crores of us, could we ask for a bigger number to make a difference. We could not, but we are free to make choices, isn’t this a great feeling to be born a democratic country which allows us to do what we want, at least it allows us not to do what we do not want, and we have decided not to do anything.

Cheers to our beautiful lives!

Daybreak

Sun in the earth.. sunflower
Bird in the air …rain
Eye within eye… daybreak

Streets we have never walked on
Windows we have never opened
Hands we have never held
Dreams we shall never ..never see again

Lives we have never lived
Hopes ..we have never realized
Fires we have never lit
Loves… we shall never .. never make again

Sun in the earth sunflower
Bird in the air rain
Eye within eye daybreak

I hear those strange whispers again…..

- Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi

And believe me, it sounds even better.

Image Source: www.deviantart.com

Into the wild

“The sea’s only gifts are harsh blows, and occasionally the chance to feel strong. Now I don’t know much about the sea, but I do know that that’s the way it is here. And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions. Facing the blind death stone alone, with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.” - Alexandar Supertramp

Into the wild, directed by Sean Penn, story of a twenty three year old graduate exhausted of life, pursuing freedom, pursuing truth and pursuing reason. After completing his graduation and troubled by things with his family, he decides to move on, literally! Devoids himself of all his possessions and identity he starts his journey towards north, meeting people reading books eating edible leaves and forest fruits.

I don’t feel like reviewing this movie, I am still digesting the movie, surely want to see this one a couple more times, want to get back its dialogues and a lot more little things about it. There are a lot of things that were said and done during this 150 minute life journey of Alex which needs another go at it. Ya, but I must mention for all the brothers and sisters from ‘love pearl jam’ community that it features a lot of sound tracks, and the vocals are all by Eddie Vedder, looking to download the songs from somewhere, if you have them, please share.

The movie has a few extreme moments when he moves into a complete nomad mode, he shots a moose dead, takes out his heart (correct me if i am wrong!) does activities with it and regrets it at the end of it. He tries to get all the wisdom from the books he reads (other than his delusive thought process) and gets the motivation to call things by their appropriate name; and then he’s off to the jungle weeds again, calling them by their appropriate scientific names.

Solitude is what he wanted and wisdom is what he received. Into the wild should be seen, for reasons more than just sensory. Not many of us are born Christopher McCandless, not many of us will die Alexandar Supertramp

My Reincarnation

The kid dances around the flame, the history book pyre is not ominous, its Delicately beautiful

So what if we change

Mausam jo darakhton se patte chheen le

Mausam jo zameenon se paani chura le

Mausam jo baha de har gaaon har koocha

waqt, waqt badal de aise mausam ko bhi!

hum to fir insaan thehre.

darakhton = Trees

On the edge of horizon

I think I can do anything, absolutely anything that a man has ever done or has desired to, with supreme ease and perfection. I can write a great post and manage a wonderful blog, I can. I can do wonders at my workplace by solving all problems in almost no time with greatest efficiency. I can listen to all good songs ever sung and watch all cult movies before next to next Olympics. I can also read some great books, at a swifter speed and a good understanding of what I read. I can also visit places, lot of them, national parks and wild centuries, mountains and beaches, Mizoram and Tripura, Kashmir, Jharkhand and Kerala.

I can exercise, physically and mentally, I can, for sure, crack better jokes. I can become a charmer and can make a lot more friends, and I can keep them. I can decide what I want to do with my life, sooner or later and on different time lengths, and then I can start working on those plans. I can definitely play better cricket, football and few other games.

I can control my anxiety, my anger and my restlessness. I can control in inherent sloth that I was born with. I can increase my typing speed to 80 wpm and accuracy to 98. I can get my weight down to 65Kgs. I can identify an idol and I can follow him/her. I can pick up a guitar and start a rock band. I can shave my head and grow beard. I can marry a girl of my parent’s choice and I can perform all the rituals of a grand Indian marriage. I can dress well and go to all the parties, clean shaved and with polished shoes.

I can earn millions and I can help the needy, I can teach the poor who can’t afford a pencil and I can start schools for such needy. I can also spread awareness about female infanticide. I can join a theatre group, and I can wander around doing street plays, in rains and dust. I can survive without luxuries, laundries and Levi’s. I can join jnu for a part time course. I can learn 5 European languages and 3 South American languages. I can sell salvation to firangis stuck in their materialistic mid life crises and take them for a ride. I can fuck many of them and I can also practice celibacy for the rest of my life.

I can be a better person, overall, I can define my limits and I can walk on the roads I want to. I can be a better son, brother, friend. I can sew up relations, I can be all I want to be, all I have ever wanted to.

Demystified I stand on the edge of the horizon,

My eyes are tired and the sun is waiting,

I take a step and the skies accept me,

I get all I want,

And I wake up to fall asleep forever!

 

Thanks postsecret

This is the end, beautiful friend!

This is the end

Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I’ll never look into your eyes…again

Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need…of some…stranger’s hand
In a…desperate land

Lost in a Roman…wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah

There’s danger on the edge of town
Ride the King’s highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby

Ride the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake is long, seven miles
Ride the snake…he’s old, and his skin is cold

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

It hurts to set you free
But you’ll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die

This is the end.

-The Doors

What could be the muse, was it just the drugs, was it the woman, was it depression, was it the quest for meaning, was it the restlessness of his youth, the exuberance of the eternal source of power, was it some ‘chemical locha’ in his head, was it sheer exhalation from a timeless creative lunatic. Or, it was a hybrid of it all. James Douglas Morrison.

This is one of the most depressing songs I’ve ever heard. It will still play second string to heroin, which is the ultimate sedative or I should rather say a truck load of sedative injected in one go. I wouldn’t have become such a follower of his, if he had not been so drunk or high or whatever to write this particular piece of prose.

There isn’t much I feel like writing about this wonderful line of ‘code’, one can go over and over many times and read or listen to this song and feel tranquilized. What else, this is the end, beautiful friend. I hope the beautiful friend somehow gets to read this. This is the end!

Movies…..

Ah, finally I have seen some movies. In last month or so I have felt like college days, new movies new music, cricket, football everything is back. It’s spring time!!!

Mithya, Whats eating Gilbert Grape, Dead man’s shoes, Fantasia-2000, The squid and the whale, The blue umbrella and hopefully will see taxi driver and 10000 bc in next week.

Mithya, I always wanted to see that movie for its star cast, and i was not as disappointed as rest of my friends who saw it with me. They were laughing their asses out in the first half and still came out unsatisfied. It’s time I must agree that movie making isn’t an easy task, and even if it is, making people like it is absolutely one hell of a job. Anyways, it was a good movie, a 7.5 flick, all I din’t like about it was the quick ending. It was too sudden for me. As soon as the movie gets its pace, it ends. But still, a wonderful act.

What’s eating Gilbert Grape, I didn’t know that Leonardo was a child artist! And certainly one of the better ones. It’s one of those smooth, light-hearted, close to life movies where you can just sit and enjoy. Movies which will give you enough time and intensity to look at the cinematographical aspects, screenplay, emotions etc, reminded me of one of my all time favs garden state. Another 7.5 stuff. But all can say about Gilbert is Johnny Depp is Johnny Depp. Period

Dead man’s shoes, its all about revenge, crime, death and blood. Exactly the kind of stuff I don’t buy. And to add to my agony it carries the brit accent. After all this, I can just say, I loved it. Best of the lot that I have mentioned. See it, it’s my 8.5. Wonderful stuff wrapped in ninety minutes

Fantasia-2000, it’s Walt Disney, it’s animation, it’s music, it’s Mickey mouse and Donald duck, it’s childhood, it’s smiles, it’s Disneyland, it’s all that this world wants, its peace, its utopia, it’s Fantasia.

Blue umbrella deserves a post on its own, so that can be removed from the list. The squid and the whale, read it on IMDB.

Cheers!!!

Now I have a value, thankfully!!

Somebody was looking at the cost, its so amazing to see that people can add a value to anything and everything

My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?