Open letter from Ratan Tata to WB citizens. - The Telegraph

Soleckshaw!!! Discovery Report

Solar Power Replaces Human Toil in New Rickshaws Elizabeth Roche, AFP

Powered by Solar | Video: Discovery Earth

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/10/13/solar-rickshaw.html

Oct. 13, 2008 -- A state-of-the-art, solar powered version of the humble cycle-rickshaw promises to offer a solution to urban India's traffic woes, chronic pollution and fossil fuel dependence, as well as an escape from backbreaking human toil.

The "soleckshaw," unveiled this month in New Delhi, is a motorized cycle rickshaw that can be pedalled normally or run on a 36-volt solar battery.

Developed by the state-run Center for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), prototypes are receiving a baptism of fire by being road-tested in Old Delhi's Chandni Chowk area.

One of the city's oldest and busiest markets, dating back to the Moghul era, Chandni Chowk comprises a byzantine maze of narrow, winding streets, choked with buses, cars, scooters, cyclists and brave pedestrians.

"The most important achievement will be improving the lot of rickshaw drivers," said Pradip Kumar Sarmah, head of the non-profit Center for Rural Development.

"It will dignify the job and reduce the labor of pedalling. From rickshaw pullers, they will become rickshaw drivers," Sarmah said.

India has an estimated eight million cycle-rickshaws.

Laxmi Panda joins Netaji gallery

Express News Service
First Published : 11 Oct 2008 07:17:00 AM IST

CUTTACK: For LAXMI Indira Panda, the first Oriya soldier and one of the youngest in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army (INA), the recognition might have come too late.But if she was alive, the plans of the authorities of the Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Birthplace Museum could alone have fulfilled all her wishes inlife. Occupying space alongside among the most towering personality of India’s freedom struggle, and her exploits described to the visitors who come to know about Netaji would certainly have been beyond her wildest dreams.The Museum has set on work to dedicate a whole gallery to Laxmi Panda and her ilk, who had served in the INA, both dead or alive. People should not only know about Netaji but also the people who constituted the INA. Like Panda, there are many others like Laxmi Sehgal who had served in the INA. The Museum would search for such people across the country and give them their due space with Netaji, sources said.

As a first step, the Museum on Friday unveiled a portrait of Panda, which would adorn the gallery. The display would include vivid but brief descriptions on her life and contribution to the freedom struggle.The portrait (oil on canvas) has been created by Delhi-based artist Md Anwar, who hails from Kazi Bazaar in the town. ‘‘Dedicating the work of art to the heroism of Panda, he has donated it to the Museum,’’ said in-charge JP Das, who presided over a prayer meeting at the Museum premises on Friday.The 76-year-old from Jeypore in Kendrapara district, passed away in New Delhi recently after prolonged illness.Migrating to Rangoon in Burma with her parents from a very early age, she had joined INA at 12 or 13 under ‘Balsenani’. Her heroism and valour had also drawn great appreciation from Netaji himself. But misfortune befell after she returned to Jeypore as she faded into obscurity. She even worked as a domestic help to fend for herself before she was recognised. She received money under Indira Awas Yojana and the President had recently sanctioned the eminent freedom fighter grant of pension under Swatantra Sainik Samman Pension (SSSP) scheme-1980.The Museum, meanwhile, has readied three more galleries to be added to the existing eight depicting various phases and aspects of Netaji’s life.

Dada - Phire dekha

Dada's Numbers

3: Players in the world with the unique distinction of completing a treble of over 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches. The other players are Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya.

3: Times he has the distinction of posting the fastest 1000-run mark in ODIs. They are: 7000 runs in 174 innings, 8000 runs in 200 innings and 9000 runs in 228 innings.

11: One of 11 Indians to score a century on debut in Test cricket. The others are: Lala Amarnath, Deepak Shodhan, Kripal Singh, Abbas Ali Baig, Hanumant Singh, Gundappa Viswanath, Surinder Amarnath, Mohammad Azharuddin, Praveen Amre and Virender Sehwag.

11: Tests won by India abroad remains the most under his captaincy

21: Tests won as captain remains Indian record. At second position with 14 victories is Md Azharuddin.

49: Tests as captain remains the most by an Indian. Azharuddin and Sunil Gavaskar with 47 each are at the second spot

6609: Runs in association with Sachin Tendulkar for the first wicket in ODIs, the highest ever

Maharaja - Tomare Selaam (CRICINFO)

Sourav Ganguly

India

Full name Sourav Chandidas Ganguly
Born July 8, 1972, Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal
Current age 36 years 91 days
Major teams India, Asia XI, Bengal, Glamorgan, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lancashire
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Height 5 ft 11 in
Education St Xavier's College
Relations Brother - Snehasish C Ganguly

Timeline

January 11, 1992
Inauspicious debut
Makes his ODI debut, his only international on the tour of Australia. Scores 3 and is duly dropped. His highest score on the tour is 29, against Queensland.

June 21 and 22, 1996
Test debut is different
In his first Test, at Lord's, scores an imperious century. Follows it up with another century in the very next Test at Trent Bridge, on July 4.

October 23, 1996
Quite a sighter
In his 11th one-dayer, in Jaipur, opens the innings for the first time, against South Africa. This is the first time the greatest opening combination in ODI history, him and Sachin Tendulkar, comes together. He scores 54, Tendulkar 64, in a 126-run stand.

August 20, 1997
Has a ball in Sri Lanka
Playing against Sri Lanka, scores his first ODI century, in his 32nd match, in Colombo. This innings follows a 147 in the second Test, an innings instrumental in drawing the Test.

September, 1997
If it's Toronto, it has to be Ganguly
High point of his career. Is the leading scorer and wicket-taker in the Sahara Cup. With 222 runs at 55.5 and 15 wickets at 10.66, he wins four Man-of-the-Match awards in five matches, and is the most unanimous Man of the Series, as India beat Pakistan 4-1.

November-December, 1997
Whipping Sri Lanka, round 2
With 392 runs at an average of 98, ends the three-Test home series against Sri Lanka as top scorer and Man of the Series.

January 18, 1998
Setting up a famous chase
Scores 124 against Pakistan in the then highest successful run-chase in ODI history, as India score 316 in 47.5 overs to win the Independence Cup in Dhaka.

July 7, 1998
Whipping Sri Lanka, round 3
Scores 109 against Sri Lanka in Colombo, in the then highest opening stand in ODIs. He and Tendulkar (128) put together 252 runs as India win the Singer-Akai-Nidahas Trophy final by six runs.

May 26, 1999
Whipping Sri Lanka, round 4
A day when he, in partnership, looks like breaking every batting record in the book. His 183 in Taunton is the then highest ODI score by an Indian; the 318-run partnership with Rahul Dravid (145) is the then highest partnership ever; and India's 373 for 6 is the then second-largest ODI total.

September, 1999
Captaincy calibre
Captains India for the first time in the Coca-Cola Singapore Challenge tournament, against West Indies, as Tendulkar is rested due to a sore back. Barely a week later, he leads India again in the DMC Cup - with Tendulkar skipping the tournament due to an injury - against West Indies. India win the series 2-1.

February, 2000
County calling
Signs up to replace Muttiah Muralitharan as Lancashire's overseas cricketer.

February 26, 2000
Tendulkar resigns, Ganguly obliges
Is named captain of the Indian team for the five-ODI home series against South Africa. The announcement comes after Tendulkar has resigned from captaincy. At the prime of his one-day form, he ends the series as top run-getter, and India win a closely fought series. Is named full-time captain after the series.

March 21, 2001
Final frontier remains
End of a month of enthralling Test cricket. Ganguly is the leading face of a brash, aggressive Indian team who come back from an impossible situation to beat Australia 2-1. Is vindicated as a captain.

November, 2001
Tête-à-tête with match-referee
In an unprecedented and highly controversial action, Ganguly and five other Indian players are summoned by Mike Denness, the match-referee, and warned for excessive appealing during the Port Elizabeth Test. He is also accused of not controlling his players, and is punished with a suspended ban for one Test match and two one-day international matches. India lose the three-Test series 2-0, and the third is deemed unofficial by the ICC amid threats of a revolt by India and the BCCI.

July 13, 2002
Paying them in the same currency
Is seen waving his shirt emphatically at the Lord's balcony as an incredible win in the NatWest Series final caps off impressive back-to-back tours of West Indies and England. India had lost their last nine finals in a row, six under Ganguly. He scores a century in the Test series that follows. India draw the series 1-1.

March 20, 2003
Promised land
Scores a century in the World Cup semi-final as India make it to the final for the first time since 1983.

December 7, 2003
Leading from the front
In Brisbane, scores a brilliant counter-attacking century in a tricky situation to set the tone for Indian batsmen on the Australian tour.

April 16, 2004
Neighbours won over
Becomes the first Indian captain to win a Test series in Pakistan. Also with 15 Test wins, he becomes India's most successful captain. India win the five-ODI series too by a margin of 3-2.

October 10, 2004
Beginning of the false end
India lose the first Test against Australia in Bangalore by 217 runs. He struggles both as a batsman and as a captain, and his withdrawal from the last two Tests due to injury leads to much media speculation and controversy. Australia capture the final frontier with a 2-1 series win.

March 28, 2005
Decline continues
The signs of his decline are obvious after a dismal showing in a drawn series at home against Pakistan. Pakistan side triumphs in the decider at Bangalore, virtually signalling the end of the successful Ganguly-Wright relationship. Ganguly scores 48 runs in the series, at 9.60.

April 12, 2005
Bad gets worse
After the fourth ODI against Pakistan, with the six-match ODI series tied 2-2, he is banned for six matches for a slow-over rate and has to watch from the sidelines as India go down 2-4 to Pakistan.

September 15, 2005
After hundred, comes nadir
A slow hundred against a depleted Zimbabwe sends the critics into raptures, only for the controversial Ganguly-Greg Chappell saga to blow up in everyone's faces. Ganguly goes public with his dismay at Chappell's suggestions during the match that he step down from the captaincy, and the media goes wild. Chappell is not amused, maintaining that the Indian captain asked him for his honest opinion on his form and leadership in a private meeting between the two. The tour goes on, with India unsurprisingly beating Zimbabwe 2-0. On the team's return to India Ganguly is publicly ostracised and there are more and more calls for his sacking. Forty-eight hours after saying that he respected the Indian captain and looked forward to working with him in the future, Chappell fires off a damning memorandum to the BCCI.

October 21, 2005
Refusal to die
Hits a century in the Duleep Trophy match against a strong North Zone attack to remind the world that he is not done yet.

November 22, 2005
Passes the thorny baton
The selectors end his five-year reign as Test captain when they pick Rahul Dravid to lead India in the Tests against Sri Lanka.

January to March, 2006
Uninvited
Is picked for the Test series in Pakistan. Does not bat in the first Test, is dropped for the second, and scores 34 and 37 in the third in Karachi. His performance isn't enough to secure a spot in the one-day series that followed. Is not picked for the home Tests against England.

December 7, 2006
Beginning of the end of the end
India are doing miserably in South Africa, having lost all the one-dayers. Ganguly is picked for the Tests. India are 1 for 2, 37 for 3, 59 for 4 against Rest of South Africa in Potchefstroom. Ganguly comes in and scores 83, India win, and take momentum into the Test series.

December 15, 2006
Riposte continues
Scores a half-century with the tail in the Johannesburg Test, as India reach a crucial 249 and bowl South Africa out for 84. They go on to win by 123 runs, but lose in the final Test to squander an opportunity for a rare series win. Ganguly is the leading run-getter for India.

January 21, 2007
ODIs, here I come, again
In Nagpur, on his ODI comeback, scores 98 against West Indies. India go on to score 338 and win by 14 runs.

May 18-19, 2007
I have been expecting you, Test ton
Scores an even 100 in Chittagong, his third century in three-and-a-half years. His last two centuries are Bulawayo, 2005 and Brisbane, 2003.

July-August, 2007
Feels like home in England
Scores 249 runs at 49.80 in India's series win in England, and has secured his place in both Test and ODI sides.

November-December, 2007
E-done and double delight
Scores his first Test century at Eden Gardens, his home ground, and follows it up with his first double-century, in Bangalore. Pakistan are at the receiving end, as he top-scores with 534 runs in three Tests at an average of 89, and is the Man of the Series.

December 2007-January 2008
Beginning of another false end?
A mixed Test series in Australia (235 runs at 29.37, two half-centuries) is followed up by the ODI axe for the CB Series in Australia.

April 12, 2008
Mastering the Mean Street
On an under-prepared, dual-paced pitch in Kanpur, Ganguly scores a serene 87 to help India level the three-Test series against South Africa. Later calls it one of his best Test innings.

October 7, 2008
'I've decided to quit'
Two days before the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, announces it will be his last series. There have been talks doing the rounds that the BCCI has been trying to force the seniors into retirmement. He first denies such notions in a press conference, and then when the presser is over, makes the announcement. "Just one last thing lads, before I leave," he says. "I just want to say that this is going to be my last series. I've decided to quit. I told my team-mates before coming here. These four Test matches are going to be my last and hopefully we'll go on a winning note."

Sourav Ganguly: God on the off-side

Sourav Ganguly: God on the off-side

Press Trust of India Tuesday, October 07, 2008 (New Delhi)

Sourav Ganguly's decision to retire after the current Test series against Australia will bring the curtains down on the fascinating career of not only India's most successful captain but of a player who made news equally for his cricketing skills as well as off-field controversies. Arguably one of the greatest players on the off-side, Ganguly's career has been a roller coaster ride since making a dream debut on the hallowed turf of the Lord's in 1996. Ganguly's ability to polarise public opinion kept him in the media glare for most part of his career -- love him or hate him but you just could not ignore him. His sudden decision to quit international cricket will again raise speculation on whether a compromise formula was indeed worked out by the selectors to ease him out gracefully. It will also trigger a debate on whether he still had some cricket left in him and also on the future of the other seniors in the team. Whether he still has cricket left in him is a matter of conjecture, but the feisty 36-year-old Ganguly will always be remembered for his never-say-die spirit and his tenacity to overcome obstacles. He had his weaknesses as a batsman, particularly against the short-pitched stuff, and his running between the wickets and his fielding were not of a very high standard. But few can argue of his batting genius. 'God on the off-side' was an apt expression for the 'Prince of Kolkata'. Ganguly has scored 6888 runs in 109 Tests, with 15 hundreds. In one-dayers he has scored 11363 in 311 matches. He played 49 Tests as captain, the most by an Indian. The 21 matches won during his tenure as captain is also an Indian record, and his win percentage of over 40 is the highest for anyone who has captained India in more than one Test. Starting with a hundred on debut, Ganguly's Test average has never dipped below 40. The elegant left hander had his own methods of leading the team and he was successful in creating a winning unit from a bunch of talented cricketers. He supported his players to the hilt and they responded by giving their best for the captain on the field. Despite being a batsman who combined grace with perfect timing, his career had not managed to make much headway before being resurrected by a historic century on debut at Lord's in 1996. Later that year, he was promoted to the top of the order in ODIs and, along with Sachin Tendulkar, formed one of the most lethal opening pairs in the game. When he took over the captaincy after the match-fixing exposes in 2000, he quickly proved to be an intuitive leader. Under his leadership, India started winning Test matches away, and played exceptionally well to reach the final of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. His career graph saw a dip in 2004 and from then on it has always been a struggle for him to retain his place in both the Test and ODI teams. In Nagpur, his last-minute withdrawal played a part in Australia clinching the series and things went awry for the left hander with luck also deserting him. His famous spat with then coach Greg Chappell only compounded his misery and he was subsequently dropped from the team. After being in the wilderness for some time, Ganguly forced his way back in the Test team but his gritty 30s in Karachi, when India succumbed to a humiliating defeat in early 2006, was not enough to help him retain his place in the team. Ganguly was included in the Test squad for the away series in South Africa in 2006-2007. He ended as the highest run-scorer for India in that series and capped his stunning comeback with four half-centuries on his return to ODIs. He continued his fine run in England, where he finished as the second highest scorer in Tests, and went on to hit back-to-back hundreds against Pakistan at home, the second of which was a glorious 239 in Bangalore.

Response to Allan Border

In a recent interview that feature in Times of India (TOI) on October 3rd Edition, Allan Border commented on Indian selectors picking up 5 oldies in the side. He claimed this Indian Side to be a very very old side, 'Daddy's Army'. Even if I put aside the punn he made, just following pure statistics I found the present Australian team that is playing against the Board Pres. XI has 8 players in their line up who are above 30 years. So should we claim that this Australian side is a 'Grand Daddy's Army' ?

Singur - a boon in disguise!!!

In recent days the main drama that is surrounding the politics of West Bengal is Singur and Nandigram. While Nandigram incident is hardly a past, Singur exercise has been revamped and up to a level where Tata Motors are threatening to pull out of the project. Incidentally, West Bengal's Leftist Govt. led by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has given up usable farmlands to let Tata build this dream Nano Car project. About 1000 acres of land has been acquired and now the opposition Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee is up with a fanatic demand of return of 300 acres of land to the unwilling farmers from within the main factory area.

I am sure Mamata Banerjee's crazy demand not only portrays her characteristics but has been a reflection of her entire career. But I am not sure why the entire party do not have guts to go against her. If finally Tatas pull out of Singur the burden will fall on the TMC. I do not know but what political tricks they will show this deadlock as the failure of Leftist Govt. only. So as far as TMC goes the deal should have gone through with some decent compensation package, where TMC could have demanded to be present in some committee which will supervise the correct way to compensate the farmers. But till date TMC hasn't shown any sign of having any interest in breaking the deadlock, they have always come up as the party who wants to maximise in the political benefit out of this deadlock. Some of my dear friends who are anti-left, by fashion, will voice for Mamatadi since she is only one who is taking care of the interest of the farmers. I would still reason tall against them. Where was Mamatadi in Singur when the land was taken ? Only after the Nandigram episode ended and she found Leftist Govt. is again finding their grip in the soil, she triggered back with Singur. So should we term this movement as humanitarian or political. I guess any average IQ ed person will understand the difference and for those who are below that well they should not reason anything in life, period.

Now, coming back to the Leftist Govt. point of view. I am amazed when Govt. is not in control of the land that has been acquired then why is the Govt. trying to solve the problem. They should just put the ball in the court of the Tatas. Finally, at the end of the day Tatas will make insurmountable amount of profit out of this factory. So why are they not coming forward to any of these talks. Are they trying to portray they are just doing a favor on WB in building this factory. They should have shown some more solidarity. Are these the same Tatas that have built Tatanagar out of Jamshedpur?

I am not sure why the ancillory factory cannot be build in some other place than the main factory site. While many stalwarts have given the justification that is usually the case, so it should be now as well. Well there are lots of exception to this theory. Maruti factory in Pune has the two at different sites. Moreover, even if it is true there are so many new things in this Nano Project which have not been heard before like the price of the car. So will this different site concept does not deserve even a single consideration. I think this project is not a deal for ego, no matter who's ego, be it Ratan Tata's or Mamata Banerjee's or Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's. This project is above all and should have been dealt with some more solidarity and consciousness.

Moreover, the legal viewpoint of land acquisition is same all over India so the same trouble will be there in Karnataka and Gujarat as well. So why is the Central Govt. mum when the other states are offering 1000 acres land to attract the Tatas to pull out from Singur. Wont this be a blow to India as well? I think its high time we rise above our regional feelings and state wise politics and think of the India as a whole. India needs to rise and when the crisis comes Central Govt. cannot just take their hands off clean since this is the state whose ruling party has shown motion of no-confidence to them a couple fo months back.

Finally, even if we put the blames on all of out political and corporate parties for this extreme deadlock, we should consider the effect of Nano on India. A one lakh rupees car, who will and who will not buy this one. I would say almost 50% of people over age of 30 in urban India has the ability to spend one lakh for a car. Are Indian roads still ready for so many cars at a go. The answer is NO. One might argue that the cars will push the Govt. to build new roads and highways. I will ask where is the process? If everything would have went well for Tatas, Nano would have hit the roads by October 2008. Are our roads still good enough to handle this pressure? Is there any long term plan which will be start executing from now in phases, not only in urban India but also in connecting them ?

Ultimately, a major question to the world. Is the world ready for a cheaper car which runs on gasoline, in this age of rising gasoline prices and lowering of the supply?

I think we should find these answers first before we get hit by a Nano or sulk over the rotten deal in Singur. I am just a commoner and an average IQ ed Indian, what are our stalwarts thinking?

English, August

I never thought that a story can be told in such a leisurely fashion, with nothing particular plot in mind, just narrating the day to day incidence of someone at some job at some remote place in some country. Especially if the country is India, the job is that of an IAS and the person is none other than Upamanyu Chatterjee. His 'English, August' is one of the most relaxed narratives I have ever read. It does not rush through a plot to tell or some moral message to convey or some high voltage drama destined to be scripted in an upcoming Bollywood movie. Its just about daily life of an IAS officer in a remote town in central India. The story should be a reflection of Chatterjee's own life as an IAS.

'English, August' revolves round the main protagonist Agastya Sen (August), who is in this town of Central India to get his IAS training as a BDO in an Indian summer. The author tells us about the experience of a bachelor like Agastya in a god forsaken town of Madna and relentlessly judged by the married bosses and their wives. Overall its a nice time pass story to be read, specially by people like me who are in their 20s and still have not "settled down".

I am also looking forward to read the sequel to this, "The mammaries of the welfare state".

Calcutta Chromosome!!

I just finished reading the book 'Calcutta Chromosome' by Amitav Ghosh. This is my second read by this author. This book was written much before he wrote 'The Hungry Tide'.

This book deals about the story of Ronald Ross and his discovery of malaria being caused by anopheles bite. The author tries to link up the discovery of Ross as the contribution from a group of mystic people who prefers to stay silent in their operation and where up to researching a more complicated use of malaria virus in curing diseases like syphilis.

Over all the story is very readable and thrilling, specially the moments where slowly the role of this mystic society were uncovered by the two main protagonist of the story (Murugan and urmila). But at some places the plots where too obnoxious and it became evident that they were set up by force to justify the impression of being coincidental. The role of Antar and Tara as revealed at the end was a sudden shock.

It was nice experience reading this book, but I did not enjoyed it as anyway near I found 'The Hungry Tide'. The next one in the line is 'The Glass Palace". I have already heard good stuff about this one and really looking forward to read it.

Durga Puja - Missing Home !!!

For all Bongs (Bengalis to the world), Durga Puja is not only an annual ritual, when you want to spend time with your dear friends and relatives, but also a celebration of new. People used to paint their houses, buy new utensils and clothes before the Puja. The last one is still prevalent, but I think its mostly now a days another routine excuse to visit South City Mall or Forum in Calcutta to buy some more clothes, which anyways we buy year round. But for Bongs who are not staying in Calcutta or other Metropolis in India or abroad, to the Bongs from rural Bengal Puja is still the sole occasion for them to buy new clothes for them and their families and repair their houses, if needed.

Critics often mention that urban Bongs are slowly diffusing the real celebration of the Puja in their so-called busy schedule of life and night-life. It seems, they spend these five days of the Puja in the same manner they will spend any other weekends, when they get time to hangout with friends or family. They might add that Puja comes and goes almost perfunctorily in the lives of these Bongs. I am not sure how and what to reply to these critics and intellectual stalwarts. But one thing which I feel is that time changes at its own pace so does people. Durga Puja has always been special to people of India especially to us who are acclaimed as Bongs and will continue to do so for times to come. We celebrate Puja all over the world now. Wherever Bongs have spread, Puja has spread too.

For instance, many of us still awaits the publication of the annual 'Pujabarshiki', which is a collection of new novels, stories and poems written by noted authors and poets of contemporary Bengali literature. Puja is a celebration of new, so this collection of publications includes most of the new writings by these authors. There used to be similar craze with the music industry as well. Before Puja there were several new albums from famous singers and music directors of different genre, that were launched in order to mark the occasion.

Coming back to Pujabarshikis, we still buy them online from abroad and try to finish them up before the publication of the next years' version. Although some of us are shameless enough to not been able to finish the last year's publication, but still will be eager to buy the new edition with new stories. To us it is a passion, a stimulus to joy and celebration named 'Durga Puja'. I am not sure whether there is any parallel to this same among any other over the world, but if it is there should be handful of events like this which has this enduring impression among us which makes these five days of the year leave us enough joy and ecstasy for the remaining 360 days of the year to wait for the next event.


For me Puja has always been very special. We always used to go to our ancestral home in Matiari, Nadia where we still manage to celebrate our own puja. Unlike the Pujas in Calcutta, the Pujas celebrated at home are vastly different. Here the rituals are the main attraction and we need to work for organizing those. Since childhood we have been trained to participate in different rituals starting from ornamentation of the deity, before the day of reception, to de-ornamentation on the day of immersion. Durga Puja also marks the gathering of our entire family and close relatives at our ancestral home. These seven days we stay as a unit, share our lives and important events that happened through. Since most of us don't get much time to finally meet up in person throughout most of the year to follow, so Puja is an unique opportunity to share our lives with each other. Even at this age of emails and cellphones you will be amazed to learn how much we missed to communicate to one another about our day to day life.

Now, for the last 4 years I have been in USA for my PHD, I have missed this occasion to visit home. One cannot imagine how much I sulk and miss in these four days over here while my entire family celebrates Puja as usual. They miss me too, but I miss them the most.

"Oh Calcutta ! " -- Vir Sanghvi on Calcutta

Vir Sanghvi

Oh, not to be in Calcutta

Of the last three weekends, this is the first that I will not be spending in Calcutta. As much as I love the City of Joy, this is not, on balance, such a bad thing. I spent last weekend stuck in an endless traffic jam. And the weekend before that, I watched openmouthed as the Calcutta police shut down much of the centre of the city and inconvenienced thousand of citizens.

Let me explain. On the weekend before last, I was part of the press party that accompanied A B Vajpayee to Calcutta. As we drove into the city, I noticed that the roads were suspiciously free of traffic. On the bypass, there were no cars even on the other side of the road. Park Circus was bereft of vehicles. Park Street had been shut down for the benefit of our motorcade. So, it turned out, had Chowringhee. And Red Road. And the entire route to Raj Bhavan.

When the prime minister left Raj Bhavan for his public meeting -- half an hour before it, actually -- a similar exercise was undertaken and whole roads sealed off. All this, I was told, was done unilaterally by the Calcutta police in the name of VIP security.

As somebody who was fortunate enough to be part of the VIP motorcade, I have to say that I was put to no inconvenience -- rather, others were inconvenience because of us. Motorists were stranded for hours, some went round and round in search of alternative routes and at hotels, they were advising guests to leave for the airport four hours in advance.

All this because the prime minister was in town.

The following Saturday, I was back in Calcutta to moderate the Calcutta Club debate. This time we should be okay, I thought to myself, Vajpayee is in Lucknow. But I had forgotten something: Sonia Gandhi was in town.

Even so, I was not unduly perturbed. Sonia travels in New Delhi with minimal security. She uses two unmarked Ambassadors and no uniformed policemen are associated with her protection detail. So, there should be no problem.

No way. That may be how Sonia moves around in New Delhi, but things are very different in Calcutta. On Saturday morning, she attended a Spastic Society function at the Taj Bengal. The overzealous Calcutta police promptly shut down the entire route from Raj Bhavan to the Taj and flooded the hotel's lobby with a hundred policemen. Nor were they shy about admitting this. They used the press to advise motorists to take alternative routes because they were shutting the roads for over an hour.

That evening, on my way to the Calcutta Club I noticed that police pickets were preventing cars from entering AJC Bose Road. As you can't get to the club without traversing AJC Bose Road, I wondered how anybody would make it to the debate -- and inevitably, I silently cursed Sonia's security.

It turned out I was wrong. The disruption had nothing to do with Sonia. AJC Bose Road was not only closed, it was also jammed. The cars that had made it on to the road through a variety of devious routes found themselves stuck for hours. We couldn't start the debate till an hour and a half after the advertised time. And even then, guests kept trickling in throughout the first few speeches.

And why was AJC Bose Road jammed/closed? It turned out that a procession celebrating the tercentenary of the founding of the Khalsa Panth had decided to wander through the centre of the city during rush hour. The obliging police force had promptly closed all the roads and stopped traffic.

I couldn't help feeling sorry for the folks at the Calcutta Club. They had already postponed the debate by a week fearing traffic disruptions during Vajpayee's visit. They had spent sleepless nights hoping that Sonia's security would not lead to road closures and jams.

But in the end, it wasn't VIP security that got them. Right there, in the centre of Calcutta, they were done in by a parade of Sardarjis.

I recall these instances not to make the usual points about VIP security. Yes, such security is intrusive and a nuisance, but equally, there is no denying that some VIPs need protection. For instance, Rajiv Gandhi would still be alive today if he had been granted SPG protection.

The trick is to find a balance that allows you to protect the VIP without needlessly inconveniencing everybody else. It is not that difficult a balance to achieve. They have found it in England and the United States. And even in New Delhi -- where hundreds of jokers on whom nobody would waste a bullet get security -- traffic disruption is at a minimum. The Delhi police only stop traffic for the prime minister (not for Sonia or L K Advani or anybody else) and then too, only for seven to 10 minutes at a maximum. A police vehicle travels ahead of the motorcade, temporarily clears the roads, and then, after the motorcade has passed, it is traffic as usual for everyone. There are no half hour closure or diversions.

So my point is not about VIP security, it is about Calcutta. Why do the Calcutta Police adopt such extreme measures and treat citizens with such contempt when there is a simpler way of doing things?

Off the record, the SPG will tell you why the Calcutta police behave like this. If you want to stop traffic for only a few minutes, then you need to be well organised. You need a high level of coordination between police parties all along the route and you need to be certain your advance vehicles will reach 10 minutes before the motorcade. As far as the Calcutta police are concerned, this is too much trouble. Why bother with all these complicated arrangements when you can just shut down the whole city for a full hour? That way, there is no danger of going wrong.

It is wrong to assume that policemen do this at the behest of visiting VIPs. I know of at least one instance when Vajpayee looked out of his car and asked, "Kyon bhai, aaj koi hartal hai kya (Is there a strike today)?" He had to be told that he was the reason the road was empty.

I suppose the same is true of the deputy prime minister of Vietnam. Two years ago, I missed a flight because the intrepid Calcutta police shut down the bypass for a full four on the grounds that the Vietnamese dignitary was due to pass that way. I doubt very much if the poor deputy prime minister asked for this kind of security -- who in Calcutta would want to kill him anyhow? But, like all other VIPs, he was at the mercy of the Calcutta police.

Just as the citizens of Calcutta are.

I've never worked out why the police treat the people of Calcutta with such contempt. I used to think that it was a hangover of the colonial past. But there is another factor to consider. It isn't just VIP movement that causes traffic disruptions. A more frequent cause is demonstrations, morchas or michhils. The parading Sardarjis did not stop traffic because they were VIPs. They did so because it has become the fundamental right of any assembly of more than 20 people to bring life in Calcutta to a standstill.

I am willing to concede Calcutta sees more demonstrations than any other city. But the fact remains that all cities have their share of morchas and michhils. They just cope much better. In Mumbai, the police will not allow a procession to disrupt traffic in the city centre during rush hour: They will suggest that the morcha be held a few hours earlier, when the roads are less crowded. They will also refuse to stop traffic for a procession. If a morcha has to cross the road, they will allow one batch of demonstrators to do so, hold the rest back, let traffic run for a few minutes, and then allow the next batch to go across. This way, disruption is minimised.

In Calcutta, on the other hand, any procession can be held anywhere, at any time. There is no question of letting demonstrators cross the road in batches; they have right of way. All this is made worse by a peculiarly Bengali innovation: the propensity to agitate in single file. Everywhere else in the world, demonstrators crowd together. In Calcutta, they walk in single file. This way, even a small group of 200 people can form a long line and cause major traffic disruption.

What unites these two phenomena that so inconvenience ordinary people? How can a city that bends over backwards for rulers also shut itself down to please every roadside agitator? How can the egalitarian stoppages and the proletarian disruptions be reconciled?

I have a theory. When we associate a fawning respect for VIPs with monarchies and colonial societies, we forget there is -- or used to be -- another kind of society where the rulers demanded and received absolute respect: the so-called communist republics. They would close Red Square for Leonid Brezhnev and use batons to clear the streets for Nikolai Ceausescu.

West Bengal is not a Communist republic. But I suspect it draws its confused view of how to do things from some long defunct communist regime. Rule in the name of the people and let them agitate, but never forget the people must serve the rulers.

I can't really object to that. Much of West Bengal voted for the Communist Party of India-Marxist, and those that did deserve what they've got. But what about the rest of us? What about resolutely non-CPI-M Calcutta?

Our lot, I guess, is to suffer. Perhaps one day when the CPI-M follows its east European counterparts into obscurity, its epitaph will read: 'Nobody moved but we passed."

Passed into oblivion, if we're lucky.

Vir Sanghvi

The Hungry Tide - A journey to Sunderban !!!!

I just finished reading 'The Hungry Tide' by Amitav Ghosh. Among the Indian authors who have become very famous in international English literature, Ghosh is a noted one.

The present novel is about two people who hold their ancestry to Bengali families but are brought up in different societies. The male protagonist 'Kanai' is born and brought up in Calcutta and relocated to Delhi for professional reasons. His female counterpart 'Piya' is brought up in Seattle by the parents whose only reason to stay together was their daughter. The story unfolds from these two strangers, who are both to some extent 'self-centered', making their headway to Canning and then to further south in the tide country of 'Sunderban'. While Kanai was visiting his aunt Nilima, Piya was on her research on river dolphins and their habitat in the tide country. Ghosh spells his mastery in story-telling by going back and forth between the events happening to Piya and Kanai as they proceeded through different routes but to meet at the end at Lusibari, one of the two hypothetical islands in the story which resembles slightly to Gosaba in reality.

The story takes its turn through different human emotions and the uncanny similarity in behavior of two pair of individuals Kanai-Moyna and Piya-Fokir, even though they are really from different worlds which never leads to one another. In fact, in the story Moyna is married to Fokir, who again happens to be the son of Kusum, a childhood friend of Kanai. The backbone of the story is Piya's expedition for the riverine dolphins, inter twinned with Kanai's search for Nirmal's (Nilima's husband) involvements with the settlers in one of the islands in Sunderban, against whom the Government had taken brutal action in the name of wild-life preservation. While Kanai found that most that involvement of Nirmal was related to his soft corner for Kusum, Piya discovered that her findings about dolphins matches with the colloquial god 'bon-bibi' and her legendary messengers.

The novel proceeds through the turns of human emotions and rationalism, often putting both in dramatic confrontations. Finally, a devastating cyclone and a near death experience for both Piya and Kanai yields them in changing their way of life and accommodating others emotion in their life. The story leaves us in a open end situation, where the reader might keep extrapolating and interpreting the next moves in their own way.

Having never read Ghosh before, this was a refreshing experience for me. Not only he details the plots in his writings but also enriches them by using real incidences and references. After reading this, I became to some extent familiar with the tide country which is just a couple of hours away from Calcutta.

Saving Money ... is a hoax !!!!

Since the day I started earning, my parents, close friends and relatives always used a phrase against my spendthrift nature .. 'SAVE MONEY FOR FUTURE' . Even though I have been silently indifferent to their advices but, somehow, subconsciously I have always tried to follow them. But how can one deal with some 'bad days' when you happened to face one of the most unusual incidences life can offer.

On July 2, 2008 I was on my way back to Socorro from Albuquerque, the nearby city about 80 miles north of my university town in New Mexico (Nuevo Mejico). Just after finishing my grocery from an Indian store, I went to put them into the trunk of my Nissan 200SX. To my surprise, my ignition key broke and half of it stayed inside the trunk lock and the other half in my hand. For a moment I was at a loss of thoughts. I only can think of calling 911 (for the cops) to help me out. But then I thought of my AAA membership and called them up for a locksmith. They responded quite late and I had to call up a local locksmith who promised to come very soon to fix the situation, but at the cost of $200. "Great Lord !" so much for just a key, which under normal circumstances would have cost me no more than $3. Just because it is broken and its an emergency that I have to pay so much.

On the other hand, who could have imagined that the ignition key can break and under such an unusual circumstances. Is this a Cosmic Connection !! To what?? Nothing great happened to me other than losing some unusual dollars for a stupid reason. Ha ah!! For a moment it was tragic to me, but then it seemed like a well versed comedy. Think about this, how many on earth would have faced or will ever face such an unusual event that occurred to me. Of course, we all know from our great statisticians that there is always a finite, even though low, but non-zero probability to every happenings in life, but still I will claim chances are feeble. So should I consider myself as a (un)lucky one or otherwise?

It does not feel good to lose money under any circumstances, but it was different this time. This was one incidence that I will remember throughout my life as the most unprecedented event when the world seems to be turned against me, but still not leaving me in some bad taste at the end. As Hindu philosophers say there is a balance of good and bad times, so such a mishap may be balanced with a lucky 'Cosmic Connection'. I am waiting for it ... wondering 'in what form' ???

Shame on taste-less blogging !

I have started writing blog in the last year. I think it is a nice medium of documenting your thoughts and views on different aspects of life and surroundings. If someone else manages to visit your blog, your blog will represent you as a person.

Aamir Khan and Mr. Amitabh Bachchan are quite respected as human being and their thoughts are valued as that of a dignified citizen of India. They have started to blog in their respective websites. Their primary goal is to keep in touch with their huge fan followings and write on some recent issues which interests them.

Recently, Aamir Khan commented on his dog being named after Shahrukh Khan. Big B also took a dig at SRK criticising the falling TRP ratings of SRK's new game show. To be very frank, I am personally not a big fan of SRK. Usually, I will bet my voice arguing against most of his moves. But this time I must say, isn't there any other topic that worries these two stalwarts of Indian Cinema than SRK ? Or are they just using their blogs to publicize their images, controversies? If the later is true, I would like to suggest we should stop visiting their blogs. Its a shame on us, that our so-called great guys are behaving in such childish, taste-less and ill-humored manner. We, the people of India, tirelessly criticize our politicians. We say they are corrupt, villains of Indian democracy. What will we term these so-called 'Idols', whom we tirelessly view on the silver-screen, follow their views ? It is due to us, their movies gets hit or dumped. But see how really they fare being proper human being. Instead of writing on how to tackle with lot of difficult issues in the rising India, or writing on something which will be of any use to upcoming generation, they are just writing to benefit themselves and their petty egos. So why are they claimed as public figures. They are just narrow minded professionals and deserve to be treated with no more respect than that. I wonder, if they even charge someone to write their blogs. That will be the height of insanity.

I generally have links of both of their blogs. After this I am deleting the links, so that no one feels encouraged to visit their sites from mine. This is minimum I can do. But I really would like to voice sincere resistance against these pseudo-idealistic people who are holding high respect and reverence in our minds and hearts.

Rediff News :- "Why Dr Binayak Sen must be released" by Apoorvanand

This is an article I came across in Rediff News. I wanted to write on it. But could not do any better than the author himself. So I am just copying him as it is with proper reference.
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Dr Binayak Sen seems to have caught the imagination of the mainstream media in India at last. But one has to remember that he has spent a year in a Chhattisgarh jail.

An international award by the Global Heath Council named after Jonathan Mann to Dr Sen for his untiring work in the field of people's health and human rights followed by a strong appeal by 22 Nobel Laureates demanding his release seems to have convinced the media that there is something extraordinary about Dr Sen's arrest and that the issue needs to be probed.

Dr Sen, a paediatrician by training, was arrested on May 14 last year by the Chhattisgarh police under the dreaded Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, which are in many ways more draconian than the now repealed Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act.

The police claimed it had evidence to prove that Dr Sen was actively helping out Maoists by providing them logistic support. The only piece of evidence they have been able to show till date is the fact that he made 33 visits to Narayan Sanyal, an old, ailing Maoist leader in jail. They were perfectly legal visits and allowed under the jail manual, not something clandestine. Sanyal was suffering from many diseases and required regular medical support.

As a civil right activist and doctor it was not unusual for Dr Sen to come into contact with extremist Maoists, especially since he was in Chhattisgarh, which is reeling under the bloody conflict between the state and the Maoists.

His plea for bail in the Supreme Court was rejected, which did not find it necessary to verify the claims by the state counsel. It agreed with the state that a free Binayak was a threat to the national security in Chhattisgarh.

The state is a dangerous place for civil right activists. It is the most recent destination for rich capitalists eyeing its mineral rich land and want it to be made available. How do you do it unless the tribals are driven out of their lands?

This is a state where governance is traditionally and criminally tilted in favour of moneylenders and the land and forest mafia. And welfare schemes aimed at the poor, especially the tribals, do not trickle down.

In such a scenario there is bound to be an emergence of a movement for justice. It does not necessarily have to be non-violent as the exploitation of the poor, who have been forced to be part of the developmental state, is extremely violent. National prosperity stands in striking contrast to the increasing impoverishment of the tribals.

Chhattisgarh was fertile land for the Maoist movement as the state failed shamefully to make the mechanism of justice work for the poor. Its loyalty to rich, national and multinational companies creates a compelling urge to eliminate anyone coming in the way. A report by an expert group set by the Planning Commission to look at the developmental challenge in extremist affected areas, says, 'there is, however, failure of governance, which has multiple dimensions and is not confined to the inefficiency of the delivery systems only. It is not fortuitous that overwhelmingly large sections of bureaucracy/technocracy constituting the delivery systems come from the landowning dominant castes or middle classes, with their attachment to ownership of property, cultural superiority and a state of mind which rationalises and asserts their existing position of dominance in relation to others. This influences their attitudes, behaviour and performance.'

'Internal displacement caused by irrigation/mining/industrial projects, resulting in landlessness and hunger, is a major cause of distress among the poor, especially the Adivasis. It is well known that 40 per cent of all the people displaced by dams in the last 60 years are forest-dwelling Adivasis� The law and administration provides no succour to displaced people and often treats them with hostility since the displaced people tend to settle down again in some forest region, which is prohibited by law. The Naxalite movement has come to the aid of such victims of enforced migration in the teeth of the law.'

The report further states that the Adivasis displaced from Orissa and Chhattisgarh, settling in the forests of Andhra Pradesh would have been easily evicted by officials but for the presence of the Naxalite movement.

Suffering from continuing land loss and displacement, dwindling livelihood resources, acute malnutrition and pitched against a formidable combine of profit-hungry companies and a callous administration, Adivasis found some solace from the Maoists. The Maoists therefore are not the cause but a result of the miseries of the Adivasis.

Instead of addressing these issues, the state took recourse to a militarist shortcut by helping in creation of an armed campaign called Salwa Judum which vowed to eliminate the Maoists. It employed Adivasis in its ranks, most of the times forcibly. It is not a coincidence that Salwa Judum started days after the signing of contracts between the state and some companies.

Salwa Judum is a law unto itself. Though it is claimed to be a peaceful people's movement in reality it is a State-sponsored peoples' militia which marches into villages, forces people to join or burns their houses, destroys their cattle, livelihood and drives them out. More than 640 villages have been evacuated in this drive. Lakhs of Adivasis have been forcibly removed from their habitations and some 40,000 of them live in Salwa Judum camps set up by the government, living in hellish conditions as another state-sponsored Administrative Reform Committee report found out. The committee was lead by senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily.

The Supreme Court was forced to express its displeasure of Salwa Judum by observing that the government cannot arm people and instigate them to kill others. Defending Salwa Judum was not a state lawyer but counsel for the central government who made an astonishing admission that the state police were unequal to the might of the Maoists. They were employing as special police officers only those who have been at some point, in some way been victimised by the Maoists, he pleaded. It was extraordinary for a state to openly defend an army of revenge.

Dr Sen's consistent opposition to Salwa Judum is the real cause of the state's ire. It was all good and rosy till he confined himself to providing health services to the poor. In fact, the government had invited him to advise on its health programmes.

Binayak Sen was a gold medallist from the prestigious Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu. He decided to leave his teaching job at Jawaharlal University in New Delhi to move to Chhattisgarh in 1978 to work with the legendary trade union leader Shankar Guha Niyogi, who built up the formidable Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha. Niyogi was later killed by the industry mafia. Dr Sen moved around in villages, establishing clinics and providing healthcare to those who were damned by State-run systems.

But as Dr P Zachariah, his teacher at CMC, says, "His interest in civil activism grew out of witnessing malnutrition deaths among children. The lack of governance worried him deeply. Chhattisgarh is a complicated state with a complicated history. The government did not meet the people's needs and it was easy for Naxalites to exploit that. The government found it difficult to deal with militants who operated out of dense forests and took a very repressive stance. In the end, it led to the creation of Salwa Judum."

"The police machinery too was getting large funds to fight the Naxalites. In the dark days that followed, people began to disappear. As a member of the People's Union for Civil Liberties, Binayak couldn't help but get involved. The PUCL was constantly approached by villagers saying that their relatives had disappeared. The police had to be approached, FIRs had to be filed, and Binayak began to help," Dr Zacharaiah said.

Areas of disagreement between Dr Sen and the state government were bound to emerge. He could not have approved of measures like Salwa Judum. His work as the general secretary of the state's PUCL became a pain for the government. He was also staunchly anti-communal and critical of the activities of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Adivasi-dominated areas. Otherwise a quiet man, this English-speaking doctor was increasingly becoming a cause of worry for the state government. He was, like other law-abiding activists, a critic of unlawful encounters by the police and thus an impediment to national and multinational companies. He needed to be silenced and removed from the scene.

This was done by the state symmetrically, with an active help from the local media. In April and May last year, the Chhattisgarh police stared a vilification campaign against him when he was away in Kolkata to see his ailing mother. He was declared an absconding Naxalite doctor who had fled to evade arrest.

Dr Sen's brother circulated an open letter telling the world that he was not absconding, had gone to visit his mother and the police was in fact indulging in this vilification only to justify his arrest. His fears came true. Dr Sen returned to the state capital Raipur and was immediately arrested under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

These laws do not need actual acts of conspiracy to make you criminal, even a perception that you may, even in future entertain thoughts which would be potentially against the state interest is sufficient reason for arrest.

Appeals by several civil right activists and individuals demanding the repeal of such absurd laws and the release of Dr Sen have been treated with disdain by the Chhattisgarh and central governments.

There is a strong belief in the establishment that all civil right activists are nothing but a respectable cover for extremists of all kinds, including the Maoists. They very conveniently ignore the criticism of Maoist violence by these individuals. What is disturbing is that if this liberal middle space is gone, there would not be a counter voice to violence.

It is only appropriate that the Global Health Council chose Dr Sen for its Jonathan Mann award. His international colleagues cutting across disciplines have asked the state and central governments to create situation for him to be able to receive this award in person which would be given in a public ceremony in the US on May 29. Given the arrogant insensitivity of our state institutions, it is unlikely that the appeals would be heard.

Can we expect our judiciary to help redeem the promise the Constitution makes to the people to safeguard their right to hold opinions and express it even if goes against the official line the state would like all of us to follow?

Apoorvanand is a literary critic and a Reader in Hindi at Delhi University

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Ref :- http://specials.rediff.com/news/2008/may/16guest1.htm

Jodha-Akbar - a looong love story !!

Recently, 'Jodha Akbaar' was among the major releases from Bollywood. It was Ashutosh Gowarikar's 3rd venture on films. After Lagaan and Swades it was time for him to try with a periodical with Hrithik Roshan. I like A.G's previous two films. Although length is a major issue in his film, but Lagaan was quite justified to be long and Swades' theme was excellent.

Jodha Akbar ran into controversies regarding the lack of historical evidence of existence of Jodha Bai as Akbar's wife. There were demonstrations all over the country, specially in Rajasthan and the film was banned in two or three states. A.G fought back referring to his team of researchers and also sighted the example of 'Mughal-e-Azam' showcasing Jodha as Akbar's wife and still being in the epitome of success in Bollywood. I ran into Wiki quiet a number of times to verify 'Who is Jodha?'. The answer is : Jodha Bai's original name was Heera Kunwari and she was converted to Islam before her marriage with Akbar and got her new name Mariam-uz-Zamani. So most of the historical chronicles in Islam refers her by this name. She was indeed the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amer. She never used the name Jodha during her lifetime. According to Wiki, "Jodha" was used for Akbar's wife for the first time by Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod, in his book Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan.

But even if the above fact is to be believed the content of the film 'Jodha Akbar' can be debated, since in the story Jodha neither changes her religion nor her name, after marriage with Akbar. In fact, this marriage is referred in the history books as an example of Akbar's tolerant relgious policies and makes him so different from Aurangzeb. If Akbar could have only married Jodha after changing her religion, why is he so much hyped then being tolerant to other religion ?

Anyways, I think its a debate due to lack of resonable amount of references. So one can look into the movie as a historical fiction and can value it on its power of story telling and technicality ! Hence, lets move to the actual movie assuming the story is real.

A.G.'s Lagaan got the nomination for Academy Awards. Since then he has been in limelight. I believe this is one director who has the courage to script what he wants to present. But Jodha Akbar seemed to me as losing some tracks here and there. Ultimately I would like to ask the question what was the story basically about ? If it was a story of Akbar-Jodha love and its consequence to Akbar's reign, then I will definitely question about spending so much time in the begining showing Akbar's relation with Bairam Khan. After all nothing was told in that segment about Akbar's character which has any resemblance to his dealings with Jodha issue. I agree if you are scripting a historical you should mention briefly about the background. But I thought that was the reason A.G. had involved Amitabh Bachchan as the narrator. Thats what A.B did in Lagaan and also in the past in 'Shatranj ke Khiladi', his sole experience with Satyajit Ray. So one would wonder why A.G. did not use him properly and cut the very essential length of the film short.

I must say it was a long film. Personally, I am not against long films, if it is building up the story. In fact, I just watched the movie 'Once upon a time in America' casting Robert de Niro, which was way past 3 hours and still it was engrossing. But sometimes in Jodha Akbar I felt the length was getting too much and there were lose ends that could have been eliminated to make the story more coherent and tight. I am being too critical about this, since A.G. is one of the best directors we have in Bollywood and if he wants to compete with world cinema and be there in Oscar once again, I think these lose ends matter. I would not have been so critical if this movie was made by Vikram Bhatt or David Dhawan. Its quite an entertainer. So full marks in that category. Moreover, the gorgeous sets and beautiful Aishwarya steals the show. So I would say Jodha Akbar is good, but not as good as Lagaan or even Swades.

People might find my views slightly debatable, please comment. These are my views on the subject and after all its my blog .... :-) .. so enjoy reading.....

'Memento' is worth its name !

Yesterday I watched this movie 'Memento' directed by Christopher Nolan. Memento, which is derived from Jonathan Nolan's 'Memento Mori' features Guy Pierce in the prime role. First of all, I am not a big fan of Guy Pierce. In fact, he stars in 'LA Confidential' and sort of steals the stage from two of my favourite actors Crowe and Spacey.

But this movie is much more that Guy Pierce. He is not at all important, infact anyone could have acted in this role. Wiki says that director approached Brad Pitt for this role before. One could really ask 'Why?'. He should have charged him much more that Guy. In this film, even Jim Carrey could have carried out this ultra-complex character of Leonard Shelby. Shelby is an investigator for an insurance company, who is sufering from short-term memory loss ( a simpler term for 'anterograde amnesia'), but also invetigating about the second among the two guys involved with his wife's murder. So he devices a complicated system of using a polaroid camera and leaving important notes as tattoo all over his body so that when he loses memory he atleast can remind him about the mission he is on. But he is sometimes tricked by his close friend to do something which has nothing to do with his wife's murder. Teddy, a cop and friend of Leonard, reminds him that he has already killed his wife's both murderers. At this point, he decides to kill Teddy and keeps a note for himself that Teddy is indeed his wife's murderer. Finally, he kills Teddy and lives on in his never ending mission.

This may be the end of the story, but this is the begining of the movie. The craft of the movie is divided into two narrations one which runs in a forward direction(in black and white film) and the one in reverse direction ( in color version). But they both meet at the end. I must say I did not read the description of the movie in the wiki before I started to watch it. I also suggest it is fun in this way. Later on, I verified with wiki what I got out of the movie, and was more or less on the right track. This is a lovely movie for those who really loves to criticize technicality of film-making and adores experimentation with the way the story to be revealed. I liked this movie, but also had to watch the entire movie without skipping a scene to really get it. This was more of an assignment than just a real past-time. So, beware trespassers !

Couple of years back, I watched another lovely movie called 'Run Lola Run', that was also a theme movie of showing multiple lives n every instances. But if I start about this now it will be another episode.. so some other day...