It's not difficult to market Gandhi and his philosophies; it's been done to death by people who have used 'khadi', 'charkha' meaninglessly and his discourses and speeches have been snipped to make quotable quotes. But then, it's not easy to market him either for precisely the same reasons.
Every time there is an act of non-violence people turn around to question "is Gandhi relevant in today's time?" I have never doubted his relevance ever. He will be relevant till the end of times; its just the way we market him to reach a wider audience and spread the Gandhian message.
In 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', the script-writer re-invented Gandhi. Whom the whole world addresses as 'bapu', he had the audacity to call him 'banda' meaning dude...
That was just the first thing. The psyche behind calling him 'banda' was that he could make him relevant to today's youth and the college going students would identify with him. The moment you call someone 'banda' half your burden of respect and honor gets dumped; and you get that feeling of being among your owns.
Now comes the bigger problem of trying to miniaturize his greatness so that people are not intimidated by it. They should not feel that they cannot emulate him. So, what he does next is disguise his greatness, his courage, his fortitude, his inner-calm, his sacrifice into a single word "dum" meaning power/potential...
So, now we have a Gandhi who is a dude with some potential; just like the guy next door. He becomes more approachable and people would not feel dwarfed by his greatness. And the final punch is the reiteration of nationalism in the form of 'Vande Maataram'.
Our national song just got edited or we can say re-invented, so that the youth of today can sing/hum and make more sense of it. Lets give it a shot : bande mei tha dum ... vande maataram; bande mei tha dum ... vande maataram
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
dj's rantings in IT field
I got this as an email and found it to be really very funny and yet truthful. It's like rantings of an IT professional but the presentation is from DJ's point of view; it has reference to character DJ of Rang De Basanti movie. In the movie, DJ explains to Sue about life's trials and tribulations and how hopes of millions are crushed everyday in this ever competitive world. He talks about the insecurities and his own limitations. He is a master of the world that he has created around himself, but he is scared to face the real world once he steps out of his comfort zone.
Read and enjoy the material below; and I am sure you will identify with a few of the things because it's a hard fact that, in IT industry and during this recession, quite a lot of people are on bench and some of them have been on bench for quite sometime, including myself.
Here goes the conversation:-
DJ : wohi duniya de jhamele ..... seat aur PC dhoondo.....project paao..... te PM ki ishaaron pe nachte jaao....
tim lak lak te tim lak lak
u know gulabbo...... mennu iss company mei join huye 2 saal ho gaye..... fir bhi i am here only.
Offshore Develpment Centre ke darwajje ke is taraf... hum PM ko nachaate hai.....
to darwajje ki dooji taraf.....PM hum ko nachataa hai...
tim lak lak te tim lak lak
Sue : mai kuchh samjhi nahi
DJ : mennu bas itthe.....bench pe hi rehna hai.....
idhar......bench vaale log mennu jante hain .......bench pe DJ di koi aukaat hai...
baaki developers kehte hain .....DJ mein badi baat hai....project karega DJ
par andar....project mei achhe achhe DJ pis gaye....java code copy-paste karte karte...........
Read and enjoy the material below; and I am sure you will identify with a few of the things because it's a hard fact that, in IT industry and during this recession, quite a lot of people are on bench and some of them have been on bench for quite sometime, including myself.
Here goes the conversation:-
DJ : wohi duniya de jhamele ..... seat aur PC dhoondo.....project paao..... te PM ki ishaaron pe nachte jaao....
tim lak lak te tim lak lak
u know gulabbo...... mennu iss company mei join huye 2 saal ho gaye..... fir bhi i am here only.
Offshore Develpment Centre ke darwajje ke is taraf... hum PM ko nachaate hai.....
to darwajje ki dooji taraf.....PM hum ko nachataa hai...
tim lak lak te tim lak lak
Sue : mai kuchh samjhi nahi
DJ : mennu bas itthe.....bench pe hi rehna hai.....
idhar......bench vaale log mennu jante hain .......bench pe DJ di koi aukaat hai...
baaki developers kehte hain .....DJ mein badi baat hai....project karega DJ
par andar....project mei achhe achhe DJ pis gaye....java code copy-paste karte karte...........
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
a book launch, a movie release and a few updates
Yesterday , while I was surfing through the channels [because the IPL match between Bangalore and Punjab was so damned boring] I came across two news items which caught my attention immediately.
In one of the news channel I caught Chetan Bhagat being interviewed, where he spoke about his latest book 'the 3 mistakes of my life'. I am not a fan of his writing style, nor of his story-telling; but what I like is the fact that he is an IIT-IIM product who works as an investment banker in Singapore and still churns out books which are worth a read. His writing style gives me an insight into what kind of reading habits are acceptable to the semi-literate Indians. He does not use big words, technical jargons [unless required]; he sticks to what the common man can make sense of. If some budding writer out there wants to make an impression on the youth of the country then they should adopt his style of writing, or Shobha De's style of writing; and not Vikram Seth and Salman Rushdie.
By the way, Chetan also mentioned that all his books would start with some numeric value, like 'five point someone' and 'one night at a call center'; and now 'the 3 mistakes of my life'. His latest book is priced at Rs.95/- and will be launched soon; to be available in all stores from 8th May,2008.
On another news channel I caught Manoj Night Shyamalan talking about his latest movie 'The Happening'. Presently he is in India to receive the 'Padma Shri' award for his contribution to world cinema. He is the only movie director of Indian origin to have received an Academy Award [Oscar] nomination for Best Director.
“It is an extremely scary movie. This is meant to scare you,” Shayamalan told the curious reporters in Mumbai. “The emotional center of the movie is if you knew you were going to die, if that was a fact, what would your conversation be like? What would be the last thing you would say to your loved one?” Shyamalan said. The movie is to be released on 13th June,2008.
I have loved all his movies, including the ones that did not do so well; like 'The Village' and 'Lady In The Water'. His ideas are amazing and innovative; and his visual imagery in film-making is just wonderful. Though he has not been able to match-up to the brilliance of his debut movie 'The Sixth Sense', I am sure that he will come back to his own.
Since I mentioned Shobha De and her writing style, here's an update on her. Her new book titled 'Superstar India' was unveiled by Amitabh Bachchan on her 60th birthday. The book is a collection of her views and opinions on lots of topics. The book reflects her understanding of middle class ethos, competitiveness, killer instinct and the vanishing traditional values in the face of globalization. According to her book, India has always been a superstar but unaware of its potential and the special status. She goes on to suggest that the comman man's tolerance of bad governance, indifferent administration and corrupt officials are responsible for holding us back. The book also touches upon controversial topics like sex education, gay movement in India and sexual liberation among today's youth. Do get your hands on the book and read the interesting bits.
In another update, the WWE wrestler Khali is back in India after a three year stint in US as a part of the WWE team. He was mobbed at the airport by reporters and journalists. If those reporters are to be believed, then he will soon be making an entry into IPL matches and try to woo the crowd. He has also been approached by movie makers who have signed him on for a couple of movie offers.
That's all the update I have. I am pretty sure that I will be reading both the books I have written about, as well as watching the movie. Make sure you do so too.
In one of the news channel I caught Chetan Bhagat being interviewed, where he spoke about his latest book 'the 3 mistakes of my life'. I am not a fan of his writing style, nor of his story-telling; but what I like is the fact that he is an IIT-IIM product who works as an investment banker in Singapore and still churns out books which are worth a read. His writing style gives me an insight into what kind of reading habits are acceptable to the semi-literate Indians. He does not use big words, technical jargons [unless required]; he sticks to what the common man can make sense of. If some budding writer out there wants to make an impression on the youth of the country then they should adopt his style of writing, or Shobha De's style of writing; and not Vikram Seth and Salman Rushdie.
By the way, Chetan also mentioned that all his books would start with some numeric value, like 'five point someone' and 'one night at a call center'; and now 'the 3 mistakes of my life'. His latest book is priced at Rs.95/- and will be launched soon; to be available in all stores from 8th May,2008.
On another news channel I caught Manoj Night Shyamalan talking about his latest movie 'The Happening'. Presently he is in India to receive the 'Padma Shri' award for his contribution to world cinema. He is the only movie director of Indian origin to have received an Academy Award [Oscar] nomination for Best Director.
“It is an extremely scary movie. This is meant to scare you,” Shayamalan told the curious reporters in Mumbai. “The emotional center of the movie is if you knew you were going to die, if that was a fact, what would your conversation be like? What would be the last thing you would say to your loved one?” Shyamalan said. The movie is to be released on 13th June,2008.
I have loved all his movies, including the ones that did not do so well; like 'The Village' and 'Lady In The Water'. His ideas are amazing and innovative; and his visual imagery in film-making is just wonderful. Though he has not been able to match-up to the brilliance of his debut movie 'The Sixth Sense', I am sure that he will come back to his own.
Since I mentioned Shobha De and her writing style, here's an update on her. Her new book titled 'Superstar India' was unveiled by Amitabh Bachchan on her 60th birthday. The book is a collection of her views and opinions on lots of topics. The book reflects her understanding of middle class ethos, competitiveness, killer instinct and the vanishing traditional values in the face of globalization. According to her book, India has always been a superstar but unaware of its potential and the special status. She goes on to suggest that the comman man's tolerance of bad governance, indifferent administration and corrupt officials are responsible for holding us back. The book also touches upon controversial topics like sex education, gay movement in India and sexual liberation among today's youth. Do get your hands on the book and read the interesting bits.
In another update, the WWE wrestler Khali is back in India after a three year stint in US as a part of the WWE team. He was mobbed at the airport by reporters and journalists. If those reporters are to be believed, then he will soon be making an entry into IPL matches and try to woo the crowd. He has also been approached by movie makers who have signed him on for a couple of movie offers.
That's all the update I have. I am pretty sure that I will be reading both the books I have written about, as well as watching the movie. Make sure you do so too.
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