26/11 Forgotten????

Yesterday we completed 3yrs of  the worst terrorist attack i have ever witnessed..  but somehow it was sad to realise that people have already forgotten all about it. I mean last year on 26/11 there were peace rallies all over the city and candle light march, there was a big candle light march at the Taj hotel and Gateway of India, but yesterday there was nothing... as if nothing has ever happened there. Is this what the so called "Mumbai Spirit" is? The attack was 3yrs back guys not 30yrs back for everyone to just forget about it and go on with life as if nothing significant happened on that day. 

Kasab is still alive with no punishment given... you cant just forget about it.. Look at America 10years after the 9/11 attack they killed the man behind it. And we have the man we have the witnesses we have the proof but still he is alive enjoying in the jail while the Indians have just forgotten about it. SHAME ON US GUYS!

Here is a link of my 26/11/ 2009 post... some pictures of the candle light march at Taj.

Sharad Pawar SLAPPED!!!

In Delhi, random dude slapped an elderly man. What's new?

Ya so Sharad Pawar got slapped by a common man Harvinder Singh. And NCP blows it out of the hand by creating riots and bands all over Mumbai, Pune and Satara.. I mean really? How is that going to help anyway? By doing all this you are basically piling on to the miseries and problems of the common man, exactly the reason why Harvinder slapped Sharad Pawar. And honestly does this even justify anything? I mean millions of people get slapped everyday if we start doing riots and strikes… you can imagine what kind of dangerous world it will be then. Now you might say that Sharad Pawar is a big political personality and everything which is why this becomes national news, to which I would only ask you one question.. “Really???? “ I mean name me one thing he did that was good and beneficial for our country.

The news channels are also giving this out of proportion importance. They are clearly saying that this is a wrong act by Harvinder and is not accepted, and are trying to give their sympathies to Pawar by saying that he is old now and that Harvinder should have thought atleast about his age etc. Well does Pawar thinks even once about the poor farmers who commit suicide even before reaching his age, they have not even experienced how it feel to be old.

So basically what  media and our Politicians are saying is that, when the government authorities beat up people who are voicing their feeling and anger.. is completely justified ( need I remind you about Ramlila maidan where the lathi charge took place when people gathered to support Anna Hazare and Ramdev baba, and congress had completely justified that the lathi charge act. ) but when a common man slaps a politician its not justified. Also a Politician recently quoted a dialogue from a bollywood movie,” bade bade desho mein aisi choti choti baatein hoti rehti hai” ( Meaning – small small things like this keeps happening in big big countries )during the terriorist attack in Mumbai ( this also reminds me that there is no follow up yet on that bomb blast and I guess the people who did it are free and are probably enjoying themselves right now) so basically when a politician says things like a bomb blast is a small matter it is of no importance, no other political party revolts against it or say a word against him and well our media also doesn’t highlight it much but a corrupt politician getting slapped is a bigggg news.

And now that we are talking about violence, recently two young boys were killed in public because they protected the girls in their group from eve teasing. And of what I know, the politicians visited the families of the accused and ensured them that they will get justice. Where were these political parties and the people who are creating all these riots then? Two young boys got killed and no one raising a word no one cares. And a corrupt politician gets slapped there is bandh all over Mumbai now. 

Also, what about Kasab?? He is about to complete his 3yrs free stay in India. He killed like atleast a dozen people and are we protesting or doing anything against it? Guess killing people and people getting killed is not that very important for our political parties and also our media who has completely helped everyone to forget about all these matters, but a corrupt politician getting slapped by an ordinary man is a national news… breaking news flashes on every news channel… it will hit the headlines tomorrow and more riots and everything will happen.. maybe Sikhs will now be the enemy of these NCP people and other political parties and then there will be a much bigger scene created out of nothing.

Like honestly where is this country going? There are so many bigger issues left out and still all they care about is this?

Mount Mary, Bandra

Rockstar

So i saw Rockstar yesterday, and i was really very disappointed with it. I had very high expectations from the movie and somehow i came out of the theater disappointed. 

The start was good, and the everything was in order before the interval... the dialogues were nice and made you laugh, Ranbir was at his level best, and it was a delight to see Shammi Kapoor on screen, A R Rahman has done magic with his music once again, a few scenes were a delight to watch, esp when the manager drags Ranbir from the brothel and tries to explain him how he is going off track when the whole street is dying to just shake hands with jordan and ranbir is trying to argue back how lonely he is...that scene really stayed with me.. also when he meets up his college friends and all they care about is taking picture with the famous rockstar Jordan, while is dying to share is lonelyness with them.well thats so true, we all forget that the rich and famous are not just some showpiece to take picture with they also have their own set or worries and problems... but thats about it. 

The part after the interval was bit of a puzzle for me, where i was constantly trying to figure things out. yes the screenplay and the new way of showcasing done was a novel idea but would have worked out well had they worked better on it so as to give out a clear picture, and not just a vague idea. the story never grew towards the end, it was the same what was in the first 15mins post - interval.. repeated again and again.

The end was abrupt and i guess instead of the repetitive  scene towards the last 20mins of the movie they could have used it to improvise the end. 

the silver lining is,  i liked the over all look of the movie,, Ranbir's clothes, the rock concerts and the beautiful places it was shot in.  Ranbir has really evolved from the cute sawariya boy to the rockstar Janardhan Jakkar aka JJ aka Jordan. 

Media et Bollywood

          News channels and News papers generally are the mediums through which we make the common man aware of the happening in the society and around the world. Where the important news are published so that people get to know what is right and what is wrong.

          Ofcourse always reading the very serious news is not very exciting, that’s when Page 3 comes in, where news about your favorite celeb is published, their interviews and future projects etc etc.  But the problem arises when the personal space of the celeb is not taken care of by the journalists. It hardly matters what they are doing in their personal life, who they go out with or who they are dating or who broke up with whom. As a media person every journalist should keep in mind that the celebs are not public property to print anything about them. They also have a personal life, a personal space which should not be disturbed for no reason or rather for the sake of pure sadist pleasure.

          Instead of doing this in depth research on some film actress, wouldn’t it be better if they use the same skill and hard work to bring out the corrupt doings of some politician??

          Another problem is, when the whole essence of a newspaper is lost because of the increasing number of page 3 articles.  There are some news channels and news paper which are popular only because of their page 3 contents, which is really sad. But the thing is they use it as their strategy, they cook up some scandalizing story about them and create a bigger buzz about it.

          According to me, there should be a balance between the two, real news and the page 3 content.

Gateway And Taj

Mount Mary, Bandra

Police Never On Time!!!

So today i was waiting for a cab near a bus stop when a lady came to me and asked me if i had forgotten my purse at the bus stop.. i denied! she then said that, there is a purse in a plastic bag kept beneath the bus stop seat...

she then asked if we should touch it or call the police and inform them.. she mentioned the recent bomb blast which happened at Kabutar Khana, Dadar. which even hit a nerve inside me. i said that its better call police and not touch it. we looked around no police officer around, so we went to check around the corner to see if anyone is there, no police. we finally called 100 and told them about the bag, the police said that they will be there in a while. Thing is no one arrived ... after sometime both of us left. There is no bomb blast news yet on the TV so definitely what we found was just a normal bag.

But my point here is this, that if incase it really had some explosive and the police doesn't come on time, can you imagine the horrors that can cause. Does the police or ambulance or fire brigade reach on time ever??? I mean cool in hindi movies all this is acceptable as the hero gets more time to dhishum dhishum the goons and win over the heroine. But in real life that is hardly the case, we recently witnessed the Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes murder case,  think had the police or ambulance come on time we could have saved their lifes.

Queen's Necklace :)

if you could gimme some tips on night time photography then it will be appreciated :) 

The Murder Of Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes

The news of Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes's murder sent chills down my spine, especially for the news that it happened in Mumbai. I generally refer to Mumbai as a very safe and sound city with some bad elements but  the power of good elements taking over the bad. But something like this, i never imagined in my wildest dreams. 

10.30pm is not very late for the city which never sleeps, and Andheri is not an isolated place infact its a hub for  youngsters at night, with awesome food joints available, pubs, clubs etc. I myself have hung out at these places at night, my profession is such that i have to travel late nights in the train.. and sometimes at 1am  i am the only one travelling along with some other late night travelers.. now with such things happening am i to take the conclusion that i cant travel alone at night? oh to hell with me.. what about the million other women who are working in call centers and  MNCs where they have to work late night? Is the city which never sleeps to function without women working at night? another thing which pops in my mind is.. if someday something like this happens to me, am i to stop my friends from helping me? am i to just quietly accept all the teasing without voicing a word or calling for help, because if i do its gonna cost them their life? another thing.. if you see someone getting molested on the street what will you do?? help her or just turn a blind eye because you know that helping her will cost you your life?

The record and the witnesses say that there were 13 people who came with swords and knifes... and police only got 4 to 5 people in their hand.. where are the others? disappeared??? the person who started everything Rana, who lives in Valimiki Nagar is sure that he will get off without any serious punishment, and he said this in public!!!!. Politicians from many parties were seen visiting Valmiki Nagar to meet the families of the accused and assured them that they will get JUSTICE! hello? excuse me?? what justice do they need? 

The reasons there is no serious punishment or that the other killers are free and that politicians are promising justice to the families of the accused is all because , Valmiki Nagar is a major vote bank, and the politicians cant let go of their votes. 

Keenan was stabbed in the stomach and died on the spot.. and Reuben was taken to hospital immediately, he was kept in ICCU and was unaware of Keenan's death...his condition was critical still the police forced entry under the pretense of interrogation during which Reuben realized about Keenan's death which was a blow to him. I dont really think the forced entry can be justified.. it was wrong! Reuben passed away on the 31st October after battling for life for a week. 

Priyanka, Keenan's girlfriend, who was teased that night said that she will fight against this.. and whatever keenan started she will end it.. she wont let 2 of her best friends death to go waste. and we really need people like her right now. 

Rana, the man who teased Priyanka already have 2 murder cases against him, how is it that he was freely roaming around and also killed 1 more person? and still saying publicly that he will be free in a few months time.

Our politicians have time for everything, from accusing one another.. to creating a scene out of nothing etc.. but when something serious like this happened which is practically threatening every female in the city they have run for their houses and sitting there quietly. 

Diwali :)

Acting is not acting - Al Pacino

Acting is not acting - Al Pacino

So last few months were all dedicated in doing what i enjoy the most.. THEATER!!! 

theater has a thing about itself.. the adrenaline rush you feel when you know that hundred's or people are watching you is amazing.

the energy that passes inside you after you here the third bell and when the curtain opens and the lights come in is something you will never experience in front of a camera after hearing lights... camera... action.  Also the responsibility that whatsoever happens the show must go on is also thrilling, the fact that million things can go wrong in a live show and that you will have to put up with that and continue in such a way that the audience will never know what happened.

bad health, breakup, a row with mom back home or issues with friends etc anything that is going on in ur personal life is not to be shown on stage.. no matter how upset you are inside you  still have to go there and perform with a smile on your face.. that's something theater has taught me.. to face things to let go of thing and move on and smile in front of the world.. cause of course if its your problem you should solve it not some third person right?