Genuine Illusion!!

As someone said, the media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power, because they control the minds of the masses. Media play a vital role especially in democracy. Media is the most dominant unit of democracy that keeps an eye on legislative, judicial, and executive powers and enlightens common people the practice of three powers, thus bridges the hiatus between people and power.

I have been watching the proceedings and developments in the case of acid attack on Swapnika and Praneetha. Few days back one of the news channels showed the footage that had a young man, who allegedly threw acid on Swapnika and Praneetha, lying on the ground along with two accomplices, drenched in blood. The wicked scene was shown with a horrific music in the background, as if it was a tragedy scene of a thriller movie. Later the same news channel broadcasted few interviews with some people who were all applauding the police efforts for their courageous act of wiping out of three anti-social elements. In a way media was depicting the police as heroes, who in fact took the law in their hands and killed violently the acid attackers who, as per police, allegedly tried to attack policemen with acid. The three attackers should definitely be punished; I am not condoning their uncivilized, barbarian act. But they should be punished as per judiciary system of India. My concern is the ignorance of media on the negligence by the police to act upon when victims lodged a complaint. The negligence is the cause which led to this unfortunate situation today. Instead, media was provoking common people by injecting the law of blood for blood, which unfortunately doesn’t abide by the democracy.

Couple of days back, I saw a footage that showed US President Bush who ducked to save himself from the shoes hurled by an Iraqi journalist. The journalist found a way to vent his anger and frustration by throwing his shoes at President with shouts of ‘This is a farewell kiss, you dog!!’ and ‘This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!”. Since then, this incident had been discussed as a lapse of security by analyzing the details of security personnel available at the time of incident and predicted possible attacks in the future on president and suggested few tips to avoid this kind of incidents from happening again. First of all, it wasn’t a lapse of security and no security check is available to study the intentions of a person, let alone his acts. Media should not just focus on the details from personnel to make sure if the journalists, who were present at the press conference, background were checked. The whole incident reflects the aggravation and dissatisfaction of an average Iraqi. Media wasn’t even worried to look at the incident in that aspect, and ‘un’surprisingly they presumed that Journalist was on wrong side. I agree that he was on the wrong side by throwing shoes at a President, but a light of investigation on his frustration and a study of his agony would have been better information. It would have meant that media had covered the incident in all aspects, refraining itself from a cluster biased minds. Instead, they had manufactured the news the way they wanted and made it disappear in just a day or two, which is very unlike of media.

Not only above said incidents, but also the repetition of news all day long would clearly test ones nerves on these news channels. They would like to talk about a dog show numerous times in a day rather than bringing the news of killings of poor, innocent Indian students in universities across US. I am talking about that particular incident here, not just because I am Indian, but also I believe that this piece of information has substantial meaning to it than some dog show.

Media is a powerful weapon in democracy, a weapon with which one can change the pulse of a nation, one can bring the light of awareness to dispel the darkness of ignorance, one can even turn a psycho into a sage and also more importantly this all can happen vice versa. As they say, with great power comes great responsibility, and here the responsibility is stupendous as they are dealing with the lives of people all over the world. Media should enable a common citizen to understand the working body moves, making each and every individual more responsible. Media should also facilitate government in making policies that are useful for general public and also be used as a checking function to make sure that elected representatives working towards their oaths and carry out the wishes of the people who elected them.

In a way, Media should be like a mirror that shows the actual face with ‘wrinkles’, which would definitely help this place to make more livable and more lovable.

Oraganized Chaos!!

And life has resumed, yet again, but this time it is quiet not the same way as it was before. This time, I found life filled with lively panic, reminding me each and every moment how lucky I am to be still breathing in this predicament of uncertainty. Yes, for the first time I am willing to admit explicitly that I am afraid; afraid of some faceless evil.

I got upset when I read about the bomb blasting that happened in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and many other places in India. But this time I couldn’t remain nonchalant looking at the mayhem created by some brain-washed thugs, called themselves martyrs. The intensity of the quandary kept a city, a Nation and even whole world in check for almost three days. Ten guys, who entered the Indian soil through sea route took over cities renowned hotels and kept innocent people as hostages and even killed some of them. Among ten, couple of guys were out on the streets of Mumbai shooting indiscriminately at civilians. The very sense of the news itself leaves one in shivers. At that time, I felt, even home was not the safest place on earth. Finally, it took 60 hrs of relentless effort by army and NSG to get situation under control, 60 hrs of struggle to bring the sanity back in bewildered minds. Some said, insanity took its toll before we got them down and some lauded the bravery and fight put on by soldiers in regaining Mumbai.

But my point is 'how many more incidents'? How much more blood we really have to loose before we feel safer again. How scary we have to be before we could walk down the street without looking one another suspiciously. All my questions may not have answers at this time. And some won’t have an answer forever. But central government should take corrective measures to prevent such incidents from happening over and over again. Then again, it would be too optimistic to expect them to be up and working towards the betterment. But the whole incident has one substantial outcome that is revelation of potholes present in governing body. It definitely reflected on the issue of negligence by bureaucracy, which was the only weapon that helped the terrorists to murder our freedom and faith.

Even after this massacre, one news paper said, resilient Mumbai back on track. I think resilient was not the correct word. It was compulsion that led Mumbaikars to get back on the local trains; it was obligation that pushed them to step back on the roads. Nobody has forgotten the face of the victims. I say, nobody should forget the price of normalcy.

I have been following the investigations on the Mumbai carnage. I have been watching the analysis of pundits over the reach of terrorism evil roots. I have been reading the assurance uttered by the politicians by increasing the security and keeping the airports on high alert. But nothing calmed my nerves as my father was getting ready to fly down to Delhi on a business trip. I insisted him to cancel the trip as there was news of possible hijack. But my father as serene as he ever was, explained the necessity of the trip and importance of being wise and non-cynical at these tumultuous times. He took the trip and came back home last night unruffled and safe.

But the point is the trauma that I experienced was colossal. One way the depth of the insecurity was inexplicable and at the same time my cowardice approach towards life was unappreciable. I believe the trick that cast by the terrorist totally worked on me, at least for a moment. I am glad I could comprehend sooner than later. What could have happened in the above said problem is totally a different issue, but the most crucial point is to stay sane and to remain defiant and don’t let our panic control us; don’t let our delusions drive us to death otherwise it would be difficult even to come out of home.

Life has to be resumed, but more sensibly and more rationally!!

అసమర్థుని జీవయాత్ర

అసమర్థుని జీవయాత్ర ఇలా అభినందించే అంతా ఆహ్లాదంగా ఉంటుంది అనుకొలేదు. అసమర్థుడి జీవితాన్ని అద్దంపట్టేల అభివర్ణించారు కవి త్రిపురనేని గోపించంద్. తన భావాలను, తన బాధలను కళ్ళకు కట్టినట్టుగ రాసే శక్తి కొందరికే ఉంటుంది, అందులో ఒకరు గోపిచంద్. ఆలోచనలతో, అనుభవాలతో ఒక వ్యక్తి చేసే పోరాటమే ఈ అసమర్థుని జీవయాత్ర.

కథలోకి వస్తే, కవి సృష్టించిన కథానాయకుడు (కథానాయకుడు అని పిలవడం ఎంత వరకు సమంజసమో తెలియదు) బ్రతుకు భారం మోయలేని, సంసార సాగరం ఈదలేని, సమాజంతో , సమాజంలో వేగలేని అసమర్థుడు. తన ఒటమికి నైతిక బాధ్యత వహించని నిస్సహయుడు. తన వైకల్యానికి సమాజ అఙ్ఞానికి మధ్య తేడాని గుర్తించలేని గుడ్డివాడు. అంధకారంలో అందాలను ఊహించే, వాస్తవికంలో వైరాగ్యం వ్యవహరించే అయోమయుడు. అన్నింటికి మించి తెలివైన పిచ్చ్చోడు. అన్ని తెలిసిన అమాయకుడు. మాయల ప్రపంచంలో మమకారాల శిశిరంలో ఆకువలే రాలిన అభాగ్యుడు. విశాల ప్రపంచంలో విరోధులే లేని జీవితంలో, జీవితానికే విరోధి అయిన అపరాధి. ఇలా ఇన్ని లేములతో కూరుకొన్న ఒక మనిషి జీవితాన్ని వర్ణిస్తూ రాసిన ఈ పుస్తకం నన్ను ఇలా కట్టిపారేస్తుందని అనుకొలేదు. బ్రతుకు ఛిద్రమై, బ్రతకడమే వ్యర్ధమై, బ్రతుకు కేవలం ఒక వ్యసనంలాగ మారిన ఒక వ్యక్తి జీవితం బురదలో దాగిన అందంలా తోచింది.

ఇది ఒక సగటు మనిషి ఆర్తనాదం, ఒక మధ్యతరగతి మహానుభావుడి గావుకేక, చావుకేక. ఈ పుస్తకం చదువుతున్నప్పుడు, చదివాక అలోచిస్తున్నప్పుడు నన్ను నేను అక్కడక్కడ చూసుకోగలిగాను. నేను చదివిన అమూల్యమైన వాటిలో ఇది ఒకటి. ఈ కథ ద్వారా నాయకుడికి ఒక కొత్త రూపాన్ని ఇచ్చి మూసధోరణికి స్వస్తి పలికారు గోపిచంద్. నిరాశను మాత్రమే వెల్లడిస్తుంది అని మొదట్లో ఈ పుస్తకానికి తగిన గుర్తింపు లభించలేదు. కాని, నిజానికి నిరాశకు తేడా తెలిసిన సమాజం ఈ పుస్తకాన్ని హృదయానికి హత్తుకోక ఉండలేకపొయింది, నా లాగే!!

నీడ చాటు జాడ!!

"దేనితొ కొలవను పోయినదాన్ని?" ఇంకో సారి అన్నాను,"పోగొట్టుకొన్న వస్తువు విలువ పోయాకే ఎందుకు తెలుస్తుంది?" అడిగాను తనను.

"పొయింది కనుకే విలువయినవి కొన్ని, స్వతహాగ విలువైనవి కొన్ని. దేని విలువ ఎంతో చేతిలో ఉన్నప్పుడే గ్రహించగలిగిన వాడు సమర్థుడు."

"అయితే నేను అసమర్థుడినా?" అడిగాను,"ఇన్నాళ్ళుగా నాలో నలుగురి గుర్తించిన సమర్థత వొట్టి బూటకమా? నలుగురు నాపై కురిపించిన ప్రశంసల జల్లు వొట్టి మాటల మూటలా?"

"నలుగురిని ఎందుకు నీ సమస్యలో లాగడం? నీలో నీకే సంధిగ్ధత? నా విలువ నాకే సరిగ్గ తెలియదని సంశయం!! విలువ అంటే ఎంటి? ఒక వస్తువు కాని, ఒక వ్యక్తి కాని నీ దృష్టిలో సంపాదించుకున్న చోటు. విలువ కేవలం నీకు ఒక వస్తువుపై ఏర్పడిన అభిప్రాయం. అభిప్రాయం మనుసుకు హత్తుకొంటే అభిమతం అవుతుంది, లేదా అసహ్యం అవుతుంది.నీకు ఇప్పుడు నచ్చినది ఇకముందు కుడా నచ్చ్చాలని లేదు. మార్పు సహజం. అభిప్రాయలు మార్పులకు అతీతం కాదు. ఎప్పటికి మారనివి ఆదర్శాలు. అభిప్రాయాల రాళ్ళ పైన అనుభవాల ఉలితో చెక్కిన శిల్పమే ఆదర్శం. నిలకడలేని అభిప్రాయాల ఫలితమే నిశ్చలమైన, నిక్కచ్చియైన ఆదర్శం"

"హుహ్..." అన్న నిట్తూర్పు తప్ప చెప్పడనికి ఏమి లేదు.

"ఇక నీ ఙ్ఞాపకాలు అంటావా, ఇవి కూడ కొన్నాళ్ళే. వస్తున్న శిశిరంలో వాడిపొయి, నీనుంచి విడిపొయి, రానున్న వసంతంలో కొత్త చిగురు తొడుగుతాయి"

అంటున్న నానీడ నవ్వుతో నేను శృతి కలిపుతూ అలాగే ముందుకు సాగాను.. వసంతం కోసం!!

Ta Ta!!

Rahul Dravid on Ganguly, "On the off side, first there is god, and then there is Sourav Ganguly."

On Kumble "The Muhammed Ali of Cricket"

Last couple of weeks brought curtails to two of the greatest cricketers of my era, Sourav Ganguly aka Dada and Anil Kumble aka Jumbo. Their services have been stupendous not only to Indian cricket but to world cricket itself.

Sourav Ganguly who made his mark with debut century at Lord’s inundated the world cricket with his immense hand eye coordination. He was the one of the best exquisite timers of cricket ball in the history. His habit of playing long innings and carrying the burden of responsibility was truly inspiring. The rate, at which he scored the runs, at one point, seemed like he would pass by Tendlya sooner but a lean patch followed by rift with coach cost him the place in Team India. But his habit of resurrection never got withered with the winds of criticism all over the world by cricket analysts. Even though he was pegged back by one and all for a year and half, he could able rise from the ashes strongly and this time, rejuvenated Dada meant more business than anytime before. He was literally at the highest point of his concentration; he was more sensible, serene and prudent in shot selection. Last two yrs of his career, he was the fulcrum of test team of India. He was undone by the onus, during Dravid’s lean patch, of carrying the team in tumultuous times.

However, Dada will be more remembered for his captaincy. His was a skillful leader. He took over the captaincy and groomed youngsters to be competitive cricketers. He was mentor for Yuvi, Zaheer, Bhajji, Sehwag and even Dhoni and many more. He backed them both in celebrations and chaos. Team India of 90’s and before then was known to be a soft, humble, unassuming and defensive. Since Dada took over the reigns, there has been a sea change in the approach of the players. Now the team is known for its commanding, imposing and never say die attitude and unyielding aggression. Since his time, India won more matches on foreign turfs. He himself alone changed the face of a nation in approaching a game. His mind games and on field attack were second to none. His gamesmanship had left best of the best in tatters. His captaincy days will remain as the golden era of Indian Cricket.

Anil Kumble, aka, Jumbo one of the finest cricketer history has ever seen. His leg break/medium pace bowling had flummoxed best players too. He had a look of, bespectacled, first bench studious guy when he first stepped into international arena. But looks proved to be deceptive as his bowling was a bundle of bewilderment. He has won more matches than anyone else for India. His flippers allowed him to bag those many number of wickets. He was too quick in the air and too gentle with the spin. His feat of grabbing all 10 wickets against Pakistan shows the volume of his strength. That was one special day not only for Kumble, but for all the cricket lovers. His potential often been questioned in regards to his performance outside the sub-continent. But his touring, to Australia in 2003-04 for Border-Gavaskar Trophy and triumphs over England and West Indies, had vindicated his ability.

His commitment to cricket/profession has been as sacred as water of river Ganges. His self-sacrificing approach to embrace the game and uplift the morale will allow him stand tall above par with his contemporary players. For more than a decade he had been one unsolved puzzle of lethal stealth for players all over the world. He truly deserves to be the third highest wicket taker of all time in Test Matches. Currently he is the leading wicket taker for India.

The two of the five giants had bidden adieu in the same series and good thing about their retirement is the timing. Both the players knew exactly when their timing was up and that is why both heroes left the arena with grace and bliss. This would be one denting blow to Indian cricket but instead of looking to fill the gap new comers should look to play to their ability.

Finally, the sight of Kumble bowling with a blow to his head, fourteen overs on trot with untiring determination against WI was one of the defining moments of selflessness and loyalty to work.

The scene of Dada waving his shirt on the balcony of Lord’s had changed the mind of Indian cricket follower forever and it remained as one of the most celebrated milestones of Indian cricket.

I am happy to have witnessed the heroics of Ganguly and Kumble. I wish them good luck in their retirement.

అదృశ్యరూపం!!

చిన్న త్వరగా లేరా!! అన్న పిలుపులాంటి అమ్మ అరుపుకి కళ్ళు తెరిచాను. ఇంకా ప్రయాణ బడలిక పోలేదు. ఇల్లు చేరుకొని 24 గంటలు అవుతున్నా, ఇంకా గాలిలో ఎగుర్తున్నట్టే ఉంది. ఈ ప్రయాణం అనుకొన్నది కాదు, ఊహించనిది కాదు. అపరాజిత అక్క, పెదనాన్న కూతురు, పెళ్ళి ఇలా హడావుడిగా అవుతుంది అనుకోలేదు. అపరాజిత, ఏ ముహూర్తానా పెదనాన్న ఆ పేరు పెట్టాడో కాని, సార్ధకనామధేయురాలు అనిపించింది, ఈ పెళ్ళి ముహూర్తానికి అందరిని ఒప్పించింది. నేను, అపరాజిత, నాకంటే నాలుగు నెలలు పెద్దది, చిన్నప్పటి నుంచి ఒకే క్లాసు, ఒకే స్కూలు. తను బాగా చదువుకొని డాక్టరు అయ్యింది. నేను ఒక మోస్తారుగా చదువుకొని ఇంజినీరు అయ్యాను. ఆ తరువాత, అందరిలాగే పై చదువులు అంటూ నేను పరదేశం వెళ్ళాను. తను బుద్ధిగా చదువుని ప్రేమించింది, తనను అరిహంత్ ప్రేమించాడు. అందరు తండ్రుల వలె పెదనాన్న మొదట్లో కాదన్నాడు, కాని అక్క కన్నీరు చూడలేక కాదనలేకపొయాడు. అంతస్తులు, అలవాట్లు వేరైనా అంగరంగ వైభవంగా కాకపొయిన, అందరికి అందుబాటులో ఉండేలా ఆలయంలో పెళ్ళి కి, అంగట్లో రిసెప్షన్ కి అన్ని తయారీలు చేసారు.

నాకు అరిహంత్ పరిచయం కాని తన చుట్టరికం గురించి పెద్దగా తెలియదు. అందులోను అమ్మే చెప్పే దుర్గ గురించి!! నిన్నటి నుంచి అమ్మ ఒక పది సార్లు చెప్పింది. దుర్గ, అరిహంత్ బాబాయి కూతురు, గుణవంతురాలు, దుర్గ బుద్ధిమంతురాలు, దుర్గ కుడా అమెరికాలో ఉంది అని. అరిహంత్ అంతే శత్రువలను అంతం చేసే వాడు, చాలా చక్కని పేరు, వినగానే నచ్చేస్తుంది, కాని దుర్గ, పేరు బాగా పాపులర్, కాని కొత్తదనం లేదు. పిచ్చి పలు రకాలు అంటారు, నాకు పేర్ల పిచ్చి. తన పేరు నన్ను బేజారు చేసింది అది కాక నిన్న ప్రయాణంలోని అమ్మాయి హుషారు ఇంకా నా మనసులో షికారు కొడుతూనే ఉంది.

ఈ అమెరికాలో అన్ని టైం ప్రకారం జరగాలి. ఎమర్జెన్సీ అంటే మనల్ని ఉతికి అరేస్తారు. నాకు ఈ పెళ్ళి విషయం కేవలం వారం రొజుల ముందే తెలిసింది. కాని అప్పు(అపరాజిత) పెళ్ళికి నేను వెళ్ళకపోవడం జరగని పని. అందుకే ఖరీదు ఆకాశాన్నంటుతున్న ఆనందంగా ఫ్లైట్ టికెట్టు కొనేసా!! ఆ నాలుగు రోజుల్లో అప్పుకు ఇష్టమైన కొన్ని వస్తువులు కొని, ప్రయాణానికి లగేజీ సిద్ధం చేసాను.

ఆఖరికి బయల్దేరు రోజు వచ్చింది. ఎయిర్ పోర్ట్లో చేయాల్సిన పనులు సవ్యంగానే ముగిసాయి. విమానమెక్కి నా సీట్లో కూర్చున్నాను. ఎప్పటిలాగే కిటికీ పక్కన సీటు. ఎప్పటిలాగే ఒక చేతిలో తిలక్ పుస్తకం ఇంకో చేతిలో Apple I-Pod. ఎప్పటిలాగే పక్క సీట్లో అమ్మాయి రావాలని నమ్మని దేవుణ్ణి కోరుకోవడం. ఎప్పటిలాగే ఒక ముసలాయన (పెద్దాయన అనలేక పొతున్న ఎందుకంటే విరక్తి భావం) వచ్చి కూర్చొవడం, ఎప్పటిలాగే దేవుడు లేదు అని నిర్ధారించుకొని పుస్తకం మూసి పాటలు వింటు కళ్ళు మూసుకోవడం, నన్ను నిరాశ పరచని నిద్ర నన్ను హత్తుకోవడం, వెంట వెంటనే జరగాయి.

హఠాత్తుగా తలపైన ఎవరో కొట్టినట్టు అనిపించింది. దెబ్బకు నిద్ర పారిపొయింది, I-Pod జారిపొయింది. చూస్తే ఒక హ్యాండ్ బ్యాగు. సారీ అంటు పట్టు చీర అంచులాంటి సన్నని గొంతు వినిపించింది, తలపైకెత్తాను. నాకు కలిగించిన అసౌకార్యానికి క్షమాపణతో పాటు అసౌకర్య భావం తన ముఖంలో చూపిస్తు ఒక అమ్మాయి. తన అసౌకర్య భావన కూడా నాలో తెలియని సంతోషాన్ని నింపింది. దేవుడు ఒకే వరంలో అన్ని కోరికలు తీర్చినట్టు అనిపించింది. అమ్మాయిని అడిగితే అందమైన అమ్మాయిని ఇచ్చాడు. వెంటనే 'it's OK' అంటూ జెంటిల్మెన్ వేషం కట్టాను, ఒక వైపు నొప్పి బాధ తిప్పలు పెడుతున్నా!!

(Picture Courtesy: Madhu Shree)

Eulogy and Ecstacy!!

Past 6 weeks have been considered as one of the brightest days in cricket history. Two giants of the world cricket put on a show that will remain as the best of the bests in coming years. The ploys were eye catching, bowling was breath taking, batting was mesmerizing and entire show was truly inspiring.

India had the confidence (having defeated Australia at Perth earlier this year) of the challenging the depleted Australia going into the series. The first test at Bangalore was a generic test (any test match that involves Australia). Australians dominated the test with their immense batting wealth but they lacked resources in bowling department which helped India to stand back on feet and manage a draw. The partnership between Bhajji and Zak in the first innings spoiled the notion of Australian victory. Second Test at Mohali will be remembered for very long time. It was one of the notable victories by India. They beat Australians in all departments. India displayed admiringly eloquent batting skills. It was more of a collective crafted effort than an individual feat. The pace bowlers duo bowled their heart out. In second innings, the delivery off Ishanth that breached Ponting’s defense will stand on par with the one bowled by Shane Warne that flummoxed Mike Gatting in 1993. Other than that there was a scintillating century from Ganguly, Dazzling show of vintage Tendlya and brave knock from Dhoni.

Third test at Delhi, which was named as the fortress of the Team India, lived up to the expectation in batting aspect but the bowling looked thin without the services of Bhajji and with injured Kumble, bowling definitely looked out of sorts. But the batting department was right on the money. Gambhir, best batsman of the series, along with wristy Laxman put on a show of class act. Gambhir’s dominance with the bat was insurmountable and his walking down the pitch to the pace attack was a bit annoying and disturbing to the pacers of Australia, which forced them to rely more on words than bowling artillery. Laxman was as crafty as he had always been. Looking him playing the strokes was as serene as the flow of river through the curvy mountains. Worn-out bowling display was matched by mended batting exhibit by Australians, they were equal to the task and they looked confident and seemed to have found a way to nullify the reverse swing off Indian bowlers. On the whole the last test by one of the cricket’s best, Anil Kumble ended in a tame draw.

Fourth and final test at Nagpur was a special one in so many ways, Ganguly’s last test match and Laxman’s 100th one and Australia had one last chance to take vengeance on a team that had been gifting them a mask of humiliation for a decade. India was touch weak with the absence of Gambhir and it was their first test in Post-Kumble era. Debutant Vijay, who was a nomad before this test, was named in the final squad and had been asked to face Lee and Co. With the luxury of Sehwag’s prepared impromptu onslaught, he slowly and cozily groomed into the shoes of strike rotator. One of the shining stars of the test was Tendlya’s much anticipated century. Without his century, it would have been an empty handed return from a free food give away. Indian batsmen continued their good form, pounding the runs but only difference was intermittent execution. Even with broken concentration, they could able to set a comparative first innings score. Australian seemed solid till the first half of the first innings but slowly surrendered to the 8-1 fielding strategy by Indians, a ploy which was criticized and at the same time left the analysts bemused. In the second innings when India were in doldrums, when Australia finally able to push the Indians backs to the wall, Ponting’s move to bring the part timers on to compensate slow over rate let the Team India off the hook and cost him the series and eventually threw him into fiasco as analysts prey on him questioning him to justify the ploy. One session of poised pondering could have brought the smiles back on the faces of Australians. But one wrong step buried them in the hole of utter ignominy.

There were many positives to take for India in this series. They played with absolute and attractive ridicule coupled with shrewd serenity. All the batsmen came out strong when team needed them to perform. Bowlers were on top and most of the time they made living tough for Australian batsmen. This series also brought curtail to two of the great cricketers of modern era. Filling those shoes would be a mountain to climb, but looking at the kinds of Vijay and Amit, it certainly seems possible to produce more match winners.

With the series over and with Australia remaining on the losing side, the obvious question has been raised, one more time, does this Australian Team still have the caliber to dominate world cricket as they had been, over the years?

I would say, they may not be as dominant as they were before, but they certainly are the toughest cricket team to beat any given day and beating them would take one special effort from Team itself.

Hazaar Chaurasi Ki MAA

Last weekend I watched Hazaar Chaurasi ki Maa. The movie was directed by Govind Nihalanai and it’s based on the novel Hazaar Chaurashir Maa by one of the best writers from India, MahaShwetha Devi.

The movie starts with Jaya Bachchan answering a phone call very early in the morning. The voice on the other side asks her to visit a morgue in near by town to identify a body which they think of her son’s. In fact it turns out to be her son’s and she grows perplexed as she realizes that police department wouldn’t let her to take the dead body of her son. The confusion takes the form of quest to find out the truth when rest of the family disowns her son’s identity and portray him as the obnoxious weed in the family who brought the pride to knees. The journey starts addressing many facets of her son which were never witnessed by Jaya Bachchan. The death of her son gives birth to too many questions that propel Jaya Bachchan to consider herself as one failure mother.

The main plot of the story deals with an exploration of mother about her son’s involvement in 1970 naxalbury agitation in West Bengal. The movie revolves around different characters with Jaya Bachchan being as fulcrum of the whole platform. A mother’s agony to find out some unknown facades of her son after death was stupendously picturized. When police search her son’s room and find out many pro-communist books and banners, Jaya Bachchan’s bewilderment is simply heart touching. She feels she knows each and every aspect of her son’s life but at the end she realizes that she never lit a corner in her son’s heart where he was hiding his thoughts and efforts in the darkness to bring light for others. But the very question that comes to her mind is why? Why did her son conceal a significant chapter of his life? Was she ignored? She sets out on an expedition to find out what and why exactly her son was hiding from her.

Jaya Bachchan did exceptionally good as Mother, Sudha Chattarjee. Nanditha Das steals the show as ever. Seema Biswaas is as good as any normal lower caste, poor and innocent yet knowledgeable house wife. The dialogues of the movie should get a special mention here. They really speak the pain of the character and explain the times and predicament of 1970’s turmoil unambiguously.

Writing a novel of such sensitive and sensible and yet bringing harsh reality of early days of Naxalbury with a thread of mother-son relation requires one special talent, one extraordinary person. But making a novel into a 2 ½ hrs movie needs more than astonishing skill. Govind Nihalani comes up with flying colors in his effort. He makes sure that he clearly elucidates each and every vital moments of the novel in 2 ½ hrs. His characters speak the dialogues which explain the trauma clearly and yet briefly.

A movie that is must watch to understand the pain of a mother of loosing her son, to understand the irreconcilable dilemma of a mother on desertion of her son by her family, society, and to understand the plight that one had gone through during the early days of Naxalbury. Of course, the whole movement has taken many twists and turns after that, but it is important to acknowledge its birth and history.

By the way, 1084 is number assigned to her son's deadbody.

Frozen Hell!!

Work should be a part of life. It should never take the driving seat. Work life shouldn’t force us to think if we really need put our heart and soul to fulfill our hunger and needs.

Working environment plays vital role in bringing the satisfaction quotient to our daily life. Lately, I have been feeling that I have been forced to go to work. When one gets up in the morning shouldn’t feel that one has been forced or conditioned to go to work. When one gets that feeling it’s hard to comply with oneself. In a smoother work life manager plays the crucial role. Having a good manager is a gift in disguise. Before we go any further, how do you define a Good Manager? In my view, a Good Manager is one who supports you in all your efforts in discharging your responsibilities, who puts his arm around your shoulder when your mind stuck in deep hole, who brings his experience to your rescue out of hole, who makes sure that work environment is more friendly than hostile, who seeds the plants of ideas and waters them as needed and who provides an opportunity for you to grow wiser and smarter. A manager should be more like a coach than a player. He should guide his employees/crew towards success but in the same he should get involve as and if the situation demands.

Like any other relation, manager and employee relation is relied greatly on the thread of trust. Manager should have to trust the abilities of his employee to certain extent. As someone said, a good judgment always comes from bad experience, in my view, an employee should have freedom to elucidate his ideas, he should have freedom to try and execute his ideas. Failures may or will arrive in the process, which isn’t uncommon, but a manager or a good manager supports him in dire situations and makes sure that employee learns a lesson from each and every failure and wouldn’t repeat that in future. But the freedom to be failure is the faith entrusted by the manager in his employee.

As someone said, ‘Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies’. When you get back home after work, if your mind is occupied with lingering thoughts of awful workday and when you get up in the morning feeling hostile to go back to work, I believe its time that you take some serious decisions. It’s better to rot in hell under a good mentor.

One more point, there are many ways to vent your emotion, like I find one here.. in writing!!

Gung-ho Cricket!!

The optimum way to describe the encounters between India and Australia would be ‘balanced insanity’. The ballyhoo surrounding this event has truly lived up to the expectations. It seems like we have already hit the zenith even though we are still have half of the voyage to cap off.

The second test of the series got the interest of all cricket minds all over the world. There is more than one reason to mark this test match. One of the major milestones of the test match was Sachin Tendulkar’s emergence as highest run getter in Test cricket History. He now holds the record for highest run getter, highest centuries in both test and ODIs. This record might have taken a test or two more than anticipated but the beauty of the achievement was the timing and it was up against his favorite opponents. He was expected to reach this point in the series against Sri Lanka, but thin form denied him of the milestone. Even after two decades of impeccable cricket, a mere presence of Tendulkar on field turns a billion people, atleast go crazy. I am honored to be in the era of Tendulkar. He has inspired a whole generation, if not more, and always let his bat talk. Nonetheless his high stature, few questions remain unanswered, some dents remain unsettled, and some spots remain under darkness.

Other than Tendulkar’s feat, Ganguly’s patient century in his last Test series worth writing here. Looking at his recent test record, one would realize that patience in approach had brought success for Ganguly. That is why as cricket analysts say, a cricketer performs better in his thirties. In the twilight zone, a player tends to bank more on his strength. He would prefer to adapt than being innovative, in other words one would realize his limits and play within his game.

Of all the things, team effort was the biggest factor in the victory over Australia. Probably after the golden era of Kapil Dev, we are again witnessing some quality bowling from Team India. Bowling had always been an Achilles heal for Team India, and that was the main reason for not securing many victories in spite of world class batsmen in the line up. Zaheer and Ishanth bowled their heart out. The encounter between Ishanth and Ponting would remain as one of the classic battles of the decade. Ishanth is one of the very few bowlers who troubled Ponting in this decade. He looks hopelessly uncomfortable at the delivery where the one that comes into him. Zaheer’s swing bowling was simply amazing. It took him years to come to understand his strengths. Kumble’s unavailability surely sent some tremors at the beginning of the test but the idea of including Amit Mishra in the final eleven had been vindicated undoubtedly, thanks to some wonderful orthodox leg spin bowling. The bowling performance surely had fired the efforts of Sehwag and Gambhir at the top. Being played for Delhi together definitely helped them to get gelled easily and very nicely. M S Dhoni’s credentials needs to be mentioned here. He seems to be carrying head over his shoulders. He is confident, aggressive and quiet at the same time, which is a seldom mix.

One point that has to be mentioned here is unending debate over dominance of Australia. A lot have been written and a lot have been said about coming to end of Australia dominance. I believe it would be preposterous to think that Australia lost the glitter of supremacy. I strongly feel that Australia knows the mantra to success better than anyone else. It is just that Team Australia lost some major players in the last one yearor so; it is just taking time to fill those shoes. Even in that aspect, it’s very easy to find replacements for Australia compare to any other team. We have seen the defeat of Australia every now and then in the last decade, but everytime it rejuvenated as a stronger and as an even better team. With this victory a lot of pressure is on both the teams. India have to continue their aggression filled orthodoxy to prove that the victory was not a flash in the pan and Australia have to regroup and perform better to hoist back their flag of dominance to dismiss the qualms.

Either case, the stage is set for exciting outing with full of gung-ho cricket.

Couldn’t ask for more!!

Baneful Birthday!!

I never thought wind could be as powerful as it was on Saturday (13th September, 2008) morning. Wind, air or gust whatever you name it surely had its presence felt and we were all hoping to breathe one more time with adequate air.

IKE, the hurricane was on its way to embrace us on Friday night. We had been informed to have everything prepared as Ike was threatening to take over Houston and surroundings. I was told to leave the work on Thursday afternoon itself and learned from the news that evacuation was very much on for southern Houston residents. Evacuation was lingering on my mind for quiet a bit of time, but eventually I decided to stay put. After watching repeated telecast of live hurricane updates umpteen number of times, decided to take a break Friday afternoon. My friends and I walked around apartment complex, just to see the curiosity of the people and get glimpses of the preparations. We even played cricket and cooked some tasty spicy Indian food.

Just to give an idea what we were anticipating at the night, IKE, at 600 miles across, was nearly as big as Texas itself. The storm surge that Ike would create was expected to reach 25ft tall at the coast. The wind speed was estimated to be around 110-125 MPH and Gust speed would be close to 140MPH. It's been a generation since Houston had seen a hurricane of this volume.

Alright back to my story, just when I was getting cozy, as a result of a call from one special person just before, who was excited to convey a message, the power went out. It was 1 AM in the early hrs of sat morning and wind was picking its speed. We lit the candle on and hoped for least possible damage. As we went out to learn the situation, the wind was picking its speed and the rain was pouring cats and dogs. We came back in and watched the clock as the noise of the silence vanished slowly. Wind picked its maximum speed and gusts were blowing hard and strong. The noise of the wind blowing and gust hitting hard on the walls was unfathomably scary. The sound brought me the reminiscence of a hag weeping her black magic tantrums out.

The wind had its own agenda. It would blow hard one moment and would remain quiet another. The intermittent occurrence made the predicament even worse as the noise was significantly perceivable. As wind blew, rain played its part by spraying all around the complex and drenched most of us even though we were standing in the closed corridor. This series of events continued till 7AM in the morning and left me sleepless all through the night.

As the hurricane IKE decided to degrade its intensity I went to bed but woke up sporadically with the noise of ‘hagesque’ IKE. And at around 10AM got a call from India, my dad was on the other side. He listened to the actions that happened, and he briefed about lethal bomb blasts took place in Delhi. It added fuel to my fear and left me cold and disheartened. It was out of the flying pan into the fire situation. I had been longing to listen to one melody.

As I was feeling dismayed, one voice brought me back to the life, and wished me, blessed me and cheered me up to the heights of Everest. I felt like a baby who saw the bright and beautiful world first time, cozily in his mother’s lap as it was my mom’s voice and she said, 'Happy Birthday’.

కుండ!!

నిన్నటి నిర్లిప్తత

నేటితో జరిగిన కథ

నిన్నటి నిస్సత్తువ

నేటితో ముగిసిన వ్యథ

నిన్నటి నిస్తేజం

నేటితో ఆగిన రోద

నిన్నటి నీరవం

కొయిలై కూసిన సొద

నేటి ఈ నిషాంతం

నీకళ్ళలో వెలిగే సదా

నిన్నటి నీరెండలో

మన కలయిక సుందరకాండ

నేడు నివహగగనంలో

రెపరెపలాడెను నా వలపుల జెండ

నేడు ఊహల వర్షంతో

నా మది ఒక నిండిన కుండ

Parzania

Parzania is a film based on true incidents. Those incidents that bring forth the question of questionable existence of civilization and humanity, incidents that irreparably dented the bond between two brothers of the family. Yes, the film depicts the inhuman, callous and merciless activities of communal jingoists in Gujarath during the communal or Godhra riots in the year of 2002.

The film is about a Parsi family, consisting of Husband, wife and a son and a daughter living happily. One fine day news arrives that 58 hindu ‘karasevaks’ were burnt alive in a train while returning from pilgrimage, by allegedly Muslim extremists. With in 24 hrs of that incident riots break up in Ahmedabad. Innocent men and women were dragged down to the streets and killed brutally. In the midst of horrendous acts, son disappears, who was mistaken for a Muslim, even though father, mother and daughter escape out.

As the riots calm down a bit the family begins the search for missed boy and in meantime they try to keep their sanity and frustration from being cut loose. In this mission helping them is Allan, an American, who is in Ahmedabad to do his research on Gandhi and his life, who is here to find the answers to his troubled life and find internal peace.

The film shows the way the riots were conducted and the brutality was executed. The film portrays the different ways that were used during the actual Godhra times. The attacks that were planned and performed during the day light and police were asked not to involve or interfere, and electricity and phone lines were dead and they even planted the saffron flags on the walls of some of the houses to differentiate Hindu families from Muslims.

Godhra riots which were carried out in retaliation to the burning of 58 karasevaks remain to be one of the darkest patches in the history of India. During which women of all ages, including pregnant women and children, were raped, gang raped, and their breast was cut and threw it around and they were put knives in their private parts and men were stripped and cut into pieces. The mob was showing its atrocious, wicked power on defenseless, middle class innocent people, who once felt safe to live in that place, in this society. But during that time, even the fields or woods were not safe. Almost 2000 Muslims were killed and approximately 100000 Muslims were moved out of Ahmedabad.

Gujarath, the land that gave Mahatma Gandhi, a symbol of peace, who taught non-violence, is now regarded as one of the deadliest places for one section of people, who own and belong to the land as much as the other sections.

The family who lost their son is still in search of him. I hope they find him soon and happiness shower on them soon.

డైరీ

నా అనుభవాల హస్తాక్షరి

ఈ డైరీ

నన్ను నేను కలుసుకొంటాను

ఇది తెరిచిన ప్రతీ సారి

ఒక పేజీలో నవ్వుతాను

ఒక పేజీలో నవ్విస్తాను

మరో పేజీలో

అమ్మ చేతి వంటను గుర్తు చేసుకొని కడుపు నింపుకున్న రోజులు

అమ్మాయి చేతికి తొడిగిన తొలి సంపాదన గాజులు

అనుమానాల అనలంలో నిజాల అన్వేషణకై దగ్ధమైన ఘడియలు

అనుభూతుల అంబరంలో అలుపెరుగక పైకెగిరిన అనందాల గాలిపటాలు

ఆవహించిన గమ్మత్తుల మత్తులు

ఆరాధించి హత్తుకున్న అందాల సొత్తులు

మధ్య మధ్యలో

నన్ను జాలిగా చూసే ఖాళి పేజీలు

కంటినిండా కడలి నింపే ఖాళి పేజీలు

ఖాళి పేజీ నిండా అవ్యక్తమైన ఆవేదనలు

అసంపుర్తిగా మిగిలిన ఆమోదించని వాదనలు

రేయిపగళ్ళ మధ్య సంధ్యా సమయంలా రేపటి పేజీ

రూపుదిద్దని రూపం కోసం డైరీ పెట్టే ఆరాటాల పేచీ.

నీ నవ్వు..

గదిలో

నాలో,

మదిలో,

గదిలాంటి నా మదిలో,

వినపడని సడిలో,

వర్షంలో తడిలో

కవ్వించే కలలో

కనిపించే ఇలలో

పైకెగిసిన అలలో

పరువంలో వలలో

పూసిన ప్రతి విరిలో

పండిన ప్రతి సిరిలో

పారిన ప్రతి ఝరిలో

చేరిన ప్రతి దరిలో

వినిపించే ప్రతి స్వరంలో

వేడుకొనే ప్రతి వరంలో

కోరికల ప్రతి శరంలో

కోసుకున్న ప్రతి నరంలో

ఏరులై పారిన ఎరుపులో

నిన్ను చేరాలనే నా పిలుపులో

ఎప్పటికి వీడని నీ తలపులో

ఎన్నటికి వాడని నా వలపులో

నీవు కావాలనే నాలో

వికసించే నీ నవ్వులు లోలో!!

Limited Freedom!!

Recent verdict by Supreme Court of India has strengthened the belief of existence of democracy in India. It is a triumph of fundamental rights over the immoral brute force.

Ashis Nandy is a well known social, cultural and political critic of India. Recently he has been named as one of the top 100 public intellectuals of the world by the magazine, Foreign Policy. Recently he had been alleged of writing provocative and inflammatory article for a national daily. He had been charged with creating animosity between communities. The case was filed by the head of the Gujarat Branch of the National Council of Civil Liberties. The article “Blame the Middle Classes” talks about the widespread hostility between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat, which once shared a healthy rapport. He writes about the failure of National party in confronting Modi over the Godra riots of 2002.

Gujarath, the sate which has disowned Gandhi, he writes, Gandhians made peace with the conscience by withdrawing from the public domain. Even the Gujarati translations of his complete works have been stealthily distorted to conform to the Hindu nationalist Agenda.

The involvement of sangh parivar in 2002 communal riots and aftermath of the riots that established the religious chauvinism had been compared to evolution of sikh militancy as a result atrocious suppression by Rajiv Gandhi and cohorts. Development in the state justifies amorality, abridgement of freedom and collapse of social ethics. He writes that change can only be possible by the new generation that too out of their sheer self-interest and tiredness which will help them to learn to live with each other.

In response to his writing, which mirrors the current religious apathy scenario of Gujarat, in the national daily, the state government had filed a case, charging with communal inflammatory and promoting enmity within the society through his article. But Supreme Court delivered sensational verdict by restraining Modi government from arresting Ashis Nandy. The court even cancelled the summons issued by the Ahmedabad police department and squashed the right of issuing the summons against Mr. Nandy in future relating to the case.

The verdict by Justice Kabir read “There is no ground for harassing a Journalist. Let him live in peace. You (Gujarat) are prosecuting this man for his article. These are worst things happening in this country. If a journalist cannot write then who else will? They look for soft target to catch but not even a single politician or small municipal councillors are caught. He is 71 years old and is a soft target for you.

Justice Sanghvi said “people coming form the land of Mahatma Gandhi have become so intolerant that they can’t even tolerate an article”.

Supreme Court has curtailed to the pernicious effort by state of Gujarat to squeeze the fundamental rights of a journalist. The views expressed in his writing are purely his personal thoughts and beliefs. In democracy, where a journalist plays a significant role in building a perfect society, should be allowed to practice his freedom to write and government should accept the constructive criticism with open hands. The verdict has been able to transpire a ray of hope on the existence of democracy over the looming darkness of anarchy and apathy.

Ijaazat

Ijaazat, probably one of the best movies I have seen so far. It came out in 1987, was directed by Gulzar. Naseeruddin Shah and Rekha were the protagonists of this mind bogglingly emotional movie. A two and half hour movie revolves around Sudha (Rekha), Mohinder (Naseeruddin Shah) and Maya (Anuradha Patel) and labyrinth relations among them.

Mohinder and Sudha, who were separated 5 years ago, bump into each other at a railway waiting room and one rainy night. As the night goes by they start unfolding the happenings before their marriage went into shambles. Mohinder is in love with Maya. Maya, who does not believe in marriage, is also in love with him but is non committal on marriage. Meanwhile Mohinder gets forced by his family to marry Sudha. Mohinder tries to reach to convey the happenings and convince Maya, but she is not in town. So in no-go situation he ties the knot with Sudha, after he explains her about his past relationship and also promises of putting things behind.

After marriage, Sudha finds Mohinder trying hard to forget the past and yet not succeeding in that. One fine day Maya comes back to town and learns about Mohinder's marriage with Sudha. As she couldn't stand the fact, she attempts to commit suicide. Moved by her condition, Mohinder lends emotional support in fixing her back in shape. Sudha, who is unaware of this whole suicide attempt, reckons that Mohinder is still in love with Maya and leaves him forever and also writes not to look for her.

After 5 years of this episode, she finds out from Mohinder about the suicidal attempt of Maya and also Maya's belief over the possibility of polygamous relationship among the three of them. Sudha also learns that Maya got killed in a road accident right after Mohinder got the note from Sudha to not to look for her. Sudha feels remorseful for deserting Mohinder without knowing the facts. But the climax of the movie adds an unending trauma to the viewers leaving them in a pleasant pain.

The movie revolves around three characters. At one point Mohinder had the options to go for, and at the end he was left alone with his plight itself. The movie has a mix of peculiar and typical characters of our own society. Mohinder seems to be very indecisive, neither he could forget Maya nor he could justify his marriage to Sudha. He got entangled with himself in the cobweb of uncertain mind, which consists of his insurmountable love for Maya and irrefutable respect for Sudha as his wife. Sudha, who is the sharpest of the bunch wouldn’t hesitate to take the decision of leaving Mohinder as per the demand of situation. Maya, a radical feminist, and whimsical character among three, has a different set of ideas on life. At one point she doesn’t believe in marriage at all and at another she believes that she would be accepted by Sudha to be a part of bigamy.

It seems very confusing how three lives get spoiled by affection. It is equally enthralling to see the way protagonist gets disturbed by the things at home that constantly remind him of his ex-girlfriend, Maya. The more he tries to get diverted the little he gets succeeded. Sometimes small incidents of an affair would leave large impressions that take more than a lifetime to come out of. I have seen many movies that have triangular love story aspect to them. But among all those this one is one of the best, just like Sangam.

I don’t think this blog would be enough to write about the songs in Ijaazat. All songs are the best ones to date. All of the songs are eloquently written by Gulzar, and sweetly sung by Asha Bhonsle. A special movie with spectacular lines of dialogues penned down by Gulzar. He is the best in reflecting the plight through dialogues. Each dialogue of the movie is unique just like another. One of the shayiris in the movie as follows.

chalte chalte mera saaya

kabhi yu karta hai zameen se uthkar ..

saamne aakar haath pakadkar kehta hai

abki baar main aage aage chalta hun

aur tu mera peecha karke

dekh zara kya hota hai!

Constant Change!!

Seasons are changing, of course seasons are bound to change. Some seasons are so welcoming that you can not say NO, and some seasons are so intrusive that you can not hideout yourself. For me, this season has been embracive and attractive.

As someone said, you don’t see things as they are but as you are. Probably, that’s true. It’s not the change in season; it must have been the changes occurring in my life. We all know that we all change every minute of life, probably a bit exaggeration, at least we all change according to time. But we kind of acknowledge the change that we like. Perhaps, I am doing the same here, acknowledging the change I like or the change that has affect on my lifestyle. With that, let me change my approach here (although, I am not changing my intension).

My life has been changing the roads so often, if not all the time. One day I find myself interesting, and annoying at the other instance. At one moment, I find myself lonely and at the other instance, I enjoy my aloofness. Sometimes, I am gentle, sometimes I am cruel. Like this, I find myself in all kind of moods at one time or another. What I like most in all of them, I am not sure, probably the one where I bleed and /or the perhaps the one where I read, and of course the one, for sure, when I am with me, being secluded, I enjoy those silent screams beaming out of me in pleasant pain to reach the sky of never ending hope. That’s my favorite part.

Looks like its time to say good bye to that seclusion. Yes, I am giving up my favorite segment of life. I have decided to come grips with the detachment of detachment. But before I isolate the isolation, let me pay homage to riveting section of life. One has to listen to oneself to understand what one wants to be or what one needs to be. I owe a lot to this detachment phase that I have gone through. This phase clearly taught me the magnitude of attachment and measure of disconnection. Sometimes, people ought to live alone, for sometime to comprehend the fact that life is not what it seems. I feel astonished to look at myself after all these changes. This ‘Me’ is not something that shaped up in a day or two. I had undergone different sectors with constant and consistent observation. I am truly not what I was. I was rustic, arrogant and adamant to some extentand obscure at times. It took me sometime to wipe out the dark clouds and to understand that my foot too needs ground to walk around.

That’s all past, bygones are bygones. One doesn’t need to remember the past as long as he never forgets the essence. Now, let me tell you about ‘change’ (I think that’s what I did, all this time). This change is a welcoming, promising and a potential change. I will write up more on this ‘change’ next time.

Tantalizing Three Yrs...

It has been three tremendous years to my job life today. I still can’t believe myself that I have got launched three years back into the world of industrial manufacturing. Time flies, doesn’t it? But these three years were roughly smooth paths and the knowledge gained in these three years is truly unfathomable.

In those swaying moods of the path alteration, I stuck to my own field, where I felt I at least had an acquaintance, if not the expertise. It was not an easy task, as some of the most well rated mechanical engineers had already bid adieu to the field. At that point I was perplexed, frustrated, and aggravated. Fortunately, as always, luck embraced me warmly, just in time, as I was about to get froze with lackluster response from employers. That was when I landed into the world of machines and money.

These three years journey was really enthralling. Every day there was at least a single occasion to learn something new. All the theories and concepts that we learned back in school (if only one remembers..) would find an incident/situation where they need to be applied. We understand those theories better and start concentrating on the functioning of the tool or process. I still remember my college days, where I used to accept the data as given, but now I tend to ponder the concept behind the requirement. The approach to a problem has been better day after day. I see myself as a better engineer than I was before. Like all the phases, even this job phase has some ups and downs, some rough stages. But without plight, it would be hard to distinguish the bright.

In these three years, I have already switched companies once. I am sailing in the second boat, which I thought would be better, in fact it indeed is better. But no matter how many companies we toggle, we will remember our first job forever, just like first love, first kiss and first break-up. After all, the first employer was the only the one who believed in your abilities and kindled the light of hope in you by honing the skills to stand up to the competitive market. I am very grateful to my first employer, my manager and my colleagues for encouraging me to keep running in the marathon of market.

These three years brought many changes in my life. I am more thoughtful, I am more emotional, I am more energetic and I am living a better life. Anyway, I wish/hope future will always be as bright as the time has been so far. I wish to write many more anniversaries like this.

Three cheers to thee years… hip hip hurray!!

Feeling Numb!!

Other day, I was chatting with one of my friends. She was quite curious to know about me and was asking different questions. After sometime, she asked me one strange question that startled me completely. She said, “You seem to be not happy with your life, are you happy with yourself?” I wanted to say ‘yes’, but somehow silence crept into me and I couldn’t get a single word out of my frozen thoughts.

Are you happy? How disgusting/demoralizing is that question!! It makes you think deeper and forces you to talk to yourself and look at your own reflection, which sometimes can be lot scarier than a poltergeist. That very question digs probing into who really I am? Do I know what exactly my role here, what exactly I am going to be? Do I really know where exactly I would land up in the future; at least do I have a plan where exactly I would like to land up? Before that, am I at the position where I intended to be? If not, what were my intensions? Did I have any back up, in case my intensions would not meet the target? There comes another question, having a back up, is it a strength or weakness? Does it show that I am under confident or I am intuitive? Wait a minute, I think I got diverted. Suddenly there comes another question, did I get diverted then or now?

I still don’t know the answer to that mind boggling question. Is there a correct answer to that question? Even to come up with a convincing answer, we first have to define ‘happiness’. What exactly is happiness? How do you define that? I believe it’s very subjective. It varies with the person and his choices. Slowly we are molding an answer to that question. Now I shall ask myself, if I am happy with the kind of life I am living here, my job, my car, my apartment, my social life, my family life, and more importantly my solitude. First three are discernible/apparent aspects. These are normal/typical aspects that are defined by the society (Society is just a mirror which would show your exterior evidences). The latter three facets are the most vital of the bunch which would decide your happiness.

As someone said, we are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves. We are too disguised to ourselves that we can’t be able to really recognize who we are. Believe me there are some instances where we would like to ignore even if we recognise ourselves.

At the end, all that my friend wants to know is the answer; I wonder if I really have to type that answer (which y’all must have sensed by now) after 5 mins.

IPL - Cursed Gift

From past couple of weeks, celebrations have been touching the zenith, where all other sporting events would dream off reaching. These celebrations, or visual spectacle, as per media are called as IPL T20 cricket. IPL has been mesmerizing the cricket lovers as well as the regular, city living, working class people to highest possible extent. As a cricket lover I, Myself felt that idea of IPL as one of the greatest exciting cricket event ever, but it turned out to be mere compliance of entertainment and exploitation with the interest of prolific profit.

BCCI was always against the shorter of form of cricket. The Team India was not ready to play this format either at home or outside the sub continent. But BCCI, which accounts for interest in earnings, changed their stand when they learned the response and revenue it generated in short amount of time. One of the lucrative minds put forth the idea of this Indian Premier League, IPL. IPL’s arrival was loud and clear with the multitude biddings that were made at the payer’s auction (I know, it sounds odd). The owners of the clubs are one of the well known entrepreneurs of Indian Market and some hot shot bollywood stars. It was displeasing to see this deceitful union of cricket and corporate or cricket and celebrity.

About T20 format, I love as much as any other format of cricket. I am sure it is leaving the bowlers handicapped. But small amendments can bring bowlers aggression back. That can be an upgrade to the current version of T20 format. In one of the matches played between Kolkatha Knight Riders and Hyd Deccan Chargers, the pitch was bowler’s paradise. It kept batsmen at bay and bowlers utilized the conditions very well and the match turned out to be an absolute humdinger. But the perplexing statement was from VVS Laxman captain of loosing side, Deccan chargers, blasting the pitch condition. It sounded utter ludicrous. Just because its shorter version doesn’t mean that, a storm of runs is expected. Playing on these kind of pitches brings the best out of batsmen and who ever adjusts to the situation and stay alive till end, will be considered as a matured batsman. Demanding for an inspection of the pitch was farcical. Of course, I felt absurd looking at the team members of the Deccan Chargers. It has the most explosive batsmen of contemporary cricket as well as most conservatives. It was an odd mixture and their opening pair was a weird mixture. Seriously, Gilly and Venugopal Rao, that pair was as weird as it gets. However, we all know that some of team members are there in the team to attract and bring the local people to the stadium. For example Dravid in Bangalore club, Laxman in Hyderabad club and so on.

These manipulations were made by BCCI. Not only this, adding music bands, dancing girls, and laser show, and etc. When I go to watch a cricket match, I would expect pure entertainment etched out of cricket show put on by 22 players. I would even enjoy the pause of one minute between the overs discussing the happening and predicting the possibilities. I wouldn’t want my cricket to get adulterated with this unwanted glitter. I doubt, if we would feel the same way if Sachin scored a century as we felt few days back when he hit against the Australia in one of the finals. If a spectator comes to stadium expecting entertainment other than cricket then it is an utter disgrace to game itself, it is almost like going to bar to eat some peanuts, how preposterous??. Watching at IPL, I felt like, I was there to enjoy loud music played, to catch flying kisses of bollywood celebrities or to steal the glimpses of flaunting cheer girls and, oh ya, some cricket in between.

To me, IPL was an event where cricket is played by corporate, not by players. It is an easy and attractive way to make money. Commercialization of cricket is like cursed gift to the cricket and cricket lover. Inclusion of money brings the professionalism down.

Money Talks, Boss!!

(These views are based on cricket and spirit of game. There are some other dimensions which would prove the whole event as the most disastrous event ever.)

Earth Day!!

Today is Earth Day. The intention of introducing earth day is to bring the awareness of increasing jeopardy that is looming over environment and to persuade one and all to join the force to minimize the peril so that we can all survive another day to treasure the beauty of Mother Nature.

The very thought of Mother Nature reminds me of one of the beautiful songs ever written in Hindi literature, called 'Ye Kaun Chitrakaar Hai!!' This one was penned by Bharath Vyas, one of the renowned lyricist/poet of Hindi film industry. He elucidates the nature as a marvelous piece of art work. He feels, the green, long standing trees, blue and vast sky, shining red sun and fragrant gusts of wind and each and every bit of nature as awe inspiring art work of a spectacular artist.

I wonder if we get the same feeling when we look at the nature around us. Gone all those days, when the nature was naturally beautiful. As they say, power always brings responsibilities. Somehow, we acquired the power, through scientific inventions, and completely ignored the responsibilities to balance the nature.

Well, better late than never, let’s buckle up and be eco friendly, at least from now.

Ye Kaun Chitrakaar Hai Ye Kaun Chitrakaar...

Harii Bharii Vasu.Ndharaa Par Niilaa Niilaa Ye Gagan

Ke Jisape Baadalo.N Kii Paalakii U.Daa Rahaa Pavan

Dishaae.N Dekho Ra.Ng Bharii

Dishaae.N Dekho Ra.Ng Bharii

Chamak Rahii.N Uma.Ng Bharii

Ye Kisane Phuul Phuul Se Kiyaa Shrr^I.Ngaar Hai

Ye Kaun Chitrakaar Hai Ye Kaun Chitrakaar

Kudarat Kii Is Pavitrataa Ko Tum Nihaar Lo

Inake Guno.N Ko Apane Man Me.N Tum Utaar Lo

Chamakaa Do Aaj Laalimaa

Chamakaa Do Aaj Laalimaa Apane Lalaat Kii

Kan Kan Se Jhanakatii Tumhii.N Chhabii Viraat Kii

Apanii To Aa.Nkh Ek Hai, Isakii Hazaar Hai

Ye Kaun Chitrakaar Hai Ye Kaun Chitrakaar

Tapasviyo.N Sii Hai.N Atal Ye Pava.Rto.N Ki Chotiyaa.N

Ye Barf Ki Ghumaradaar Gheradaar Ghaatiyaa.N

Dhvajaa Se Ye Kha.De Hue

Dhvajaa Se Ye Kha.De Hue Hai.N Vr^Iksha Devadaar Ke

Galiiche Ye Gulaab Ke Bagiiche Ye Bahaar Ke

Ye Kis Kavi Ki Kalpanaa

Ye Kis Kavi Ki Kalpanaa Kaa Chamatkaar Hai

Ye Kaun Chitrakaar Hai Ye Kaun Chitrakaar

Movie Name: Boond Jo Ban Gayee Moti (1967)
Singer: Mukesh
Lyrics: Bharat Vyas

Woh Kaagaz ki..

Ye Daulat Bhi Le Lo,

Ye Shohrat Bhi Le Lo

Bhale Cheen Lo Mujhse Meri Jawaani

Magar Mujhko Lauta Do Bachchpan Ka Saawan

Woh Kaagaz Ki Kashthi Wo Baarish Ka Paani

Mohalle Ki Sabse Nishaani Purani

Wo Budhiya Jise Bachche Kehte The Naani

Wo Naani Kee Baaton Mein Pariyon Ka Dera

Wo Chehre Ke Jhuriyon Mein Sadiyon Ka Phera

hulaaye Nahin Bhool Saqta Hai Koi

Woh Choti See Raaten Wo Lambi Kahaani

Kadi Dhoop Mein Apne Ghar Se Nikalna

Wo Chidiya Wo Bulbul Wo Thithli Pakadna

Wo Gudiya Ki Shaadi Pe Ladna Jhagadna

Wo Jhoolon Se Girna, Wo Gir Ke Sambhalna

Wo Pithal Ke Challon Ke Pyaare Se Tho'fe

Woh Tuti Hui Chudiyon Ki Nishaani

Kabhi Re't Ke Oonche Tilon Pe Jaana

Gharonde Banana, Banaake Mitaana

Wo Maasoom Chaahat Ki Tasveer Apni

Wo Khwabon Khilono Ki Taabir Jaageer Apni

Na Duniya Ka Gham Tha Na Rishton Ke Bandhan

Badi Khoobsoorat Thi Wo Zindgaani

I started off my day with this nostalgic number. The lyricist etched each and every memory/moment of a typical childhood flawlessly. I would be surprised if it did not take you back in time. One would sit helplessly listening to this and picturing ones childhood days. I was completely mesmerised with Jagjeet Singh and Chitra's voice. Listening to this song was like a pleasing pain. I was wondering where were those days. Those were the real carefree days, where we were flying high in the sky of unfathomable joy. That’s the only phase of life where life has no impurities, in other words childhood is an unadulterated version of life. Even though we live in confined space, the joy we feel is boundless/infinite. With those short steps, we walk immeasurable blissful miles.

Whenever I go to my native place, the smell of the soil brings a smile on my face. My people embrace me with the same affection as ever. The wall still asks me to climb up, if I can. My bicycle gets ready to go for a ride. Neem tree still kisses me with a blow of air. I feel I got lost somewhere. Somehow, I forgot all those memories, all those warm instants. But listening to this song definitely makes me nostalgic of those golden days.

Saaransh

Saaransh was my weekend movie. Saaransh was incidentally debut movie for Anupam Kher and his acting was too good that later that movie, he was offered elderly roles only. Rohini Hattangdi, Soni Razdan, Alok Nath were among the star cast of the movie. Story screenplay, dialogues and direction was handled by Mahesh Bhatt.

Film starts with the phone call from US to BV Pradhan, a retired head master, about the murder of his son, who was working in US, in a brutal mugging. Even after the three months, Pradhan wouldn’t come to terms with the fact; where as Parvati Pradhan comes to an agreement with the prognostication of a swamiji that her son would reborn. Pradhan feels his aimlessness and looses his desire to live. One fine day he decides to commit suicide and in the process gets rescued by his paying guest, Sujatha and her boy friend Vilas. But his decision to commit suicide stands unchanged and this time even Parvati joins the dreadful event. Just when they are ready to have poison, they witness the tussle between Sujatha and Vilas. They learn the fact from Sujatha that, she is pregnant and Vilas’s indecision to marry her because of the fear of his father, a corrupt, cruel politician. The news of Sujatha’s pregnancy lights the flame of hope of Parvati and she cancels the idea of suicide and persuades her husband to take steps to handle the matter with Vilas’s father. Vilas father gives a damn about the whole incident and advices her to undergo abortion and grounds Vilas from visiting her. When Sujatha decides to keep her baby with the support of Pradhan and Parvati, politician tries to abort her pregnancy and intimidate the elderly couple maliciously, as it proves to be an obstacle for his victory in upcoming elections. But Pradhan and his wife undergo all kinds of trauma and at the end luckily an old student of Pradhan, who is currently an esteemed leader in government helps them out of dire situations. Vilas gets cut loose and leaves home to marry Sujatha. Meanwhile, Parvati’s belief grows stronger and stronger day after day. Pradhan gets flummoxed with the situation and decides to talk to Sujatha and Vilas about the situation. He explains them the predicament and ignorance of his wife. He asks them to leave the house immediately and don’t even try to call or mail them in future. But Parvati shows her reluctance to let them go. But Pradhan evicts the couple bluntly and explains her, the fact that their dead son will not comeback. Realizing the truth Parvati recommends the suicide plan. But Pradhan enlightens her with the fact that people won’t die for dead people, the real courage lies in living and facing the truth and hoping for best in coming years.

The whole movie revolves around Anupam Kher. He presented himself immensely and unfathomably. It was official entry to 1985 academy awards. The plight of the couple after losing their son is immeasurable. They loose all kinds of support, financial, mental, and physical and everything. Everybody was up to the sniff in their roles. The scene where Anupam Kher was asked for bribe for his son’s ashes and the way he cries out his agony at customs officer his truly heart touching.

The real phase of the life starts after the age of 50. There would be no physical attraction at that stage and the bond between a husband and wife would be purely of love and affection. One of the excellent lines of the movie is

“tumhaare chehre ki jhuriyon mein hi mere jeevan ka saaraansh hai”

That explains everything.

తృప్తి

తెల్లవారితే శనివారం. కాని ఈ రాత్రికి తెర పడేలా లేదు. ప్రతి రోజు తెల్లవారిజామున అలారం మోతకు నిద్ర లేవడానికి బద్ధకించే నేను, ఈ రాత్రి నిద్ర కోసం తపిస్తు, తంటాలు పడుతున్నాను. కన్నీరు పెట్టుకోటానికి కలతలు లేవు, కల్లు మోయలేని కలలు లేవు, అయిన కంటికి కునుకులేదు.

అలా అనుకుంటూనే కంప్యుటర్ వద్దకు వెళ్లాను. నిద్ర కు సహకరిస్తుందేమో అనుకొని పాటలు విందామనుకొన్నాను. బయట చలి. వెన్నులో ప్రవహించి వణుకు పుట్టిస్తుంది. ఇంతలో "lukkaa chuppi" అంటూ పాట మొదలయ్యింది. ఈ సారి నేను చలి కి వణకలేదు. కాని పాట పలకరింపు నాలో వణుకు పుట్టించింది. ఆ వణుకుకు నాలో గడ్డ కట్టుకున్న ఙ్ఞాపకాలు కరిగి నన్ను వెనక్కి తీసుకెళ్ళాయి. నన్ను నా ఇంటికి తీసుకెళ్ళాయి. అలా వెళ్తూ వెళ్తూ తనకు నచ్చిన ఒక సందర్భం వద్ద ఆగిపోయాయి, నన్ను సంధిగ్ధంలో వదిలేసి!

చిన్నప్పుడు మనకు తెలిసిన లోకం చిన్నది కాని పొందిన సంతోషానికి అవధులు లేవు, హద్దులు లేవు. ప్రతి పక్షానికి, అమ్మ నన్ను పిండి మరకు వెళ్ళమని పురమాయించిన సాయంత్రాలు ఇంకా గుర్తున్నాయి. మా ఇంటికి అర కిలోమీటర్ దూరంలో ఉండేది. అలా నడుస్తూ, నా చుట్టు ఉన్న జనాలను చూస్తూ నాలో నేను అనుకొన్న మాటలు ఎన్నో, ఎన్నెన్నో!! పిండి మర వద్ద కూర్చుని పని ముగిసే దాక రోడ్డు పైన వెళ్ళే ప్రతి కారు, ప్రతి మోటర్ సైకిల్ పేరు చదువుతూ, లెక్కపెడుతూ గడిపిన ఆ క్షణాలు, జీవితం ఇలాగే గడిచిపోతుందేమో అనుకొన్న నా ఊహ (అందులోని తీయదనం ఇప్పుడు తెలుస్తుంది), అంతే తప్ప వాటిని సంపాయించాలి, సొంతం చేసుకోవాలి అన్న ఆలోచనకూడ తట్టేది కాదు. అలా పని ముగించికుని ఇంటికి వస్తే, అమ్మ నాకు ఒక్క రూపాయి ఇచ్చేది. ఆ రుపాయి తీసుకొని నేను సరాసరి గుజరాతీ చాట్ భండార్ వద్ద కు పరుగు తీసే వాణ్ణి. ఆ రుపాయి తో అయిదు పానిపూరిలు (గప్ చుప్) తినేవాణ్ణి. అలా తినే నాకు ఆ రోజు స్వర్గం నిచ్చెన ఎక్కినంత ఆనందం. లోకాలను జయించినంత గర్వం. కాసేపు గాలిలో ఎగురుతూ చందమామ ని తాకినంత తృప్తి.

అదే సంతోషం, అదే తృప్తి కోసం రోజు తపిస్తున్న ఇప్పుడు. ఇప్పుడు పూటకు వంద రూపాయల పానిఫూరి లను తిన్నా ఆ తృప్తి ని పొందలేక పొతున్నాను. ఎక్కడికి వెళ్ళిన, ఎమి చేసిన తీరని వెలితి, నాలో, నాతో సదా!! ఎదో ఒక తెలియని అసంతృప్తి. ఈ జన సందోహంలో నన్ను నేను ఎక్కడో వదిలిపెట్టి వచ్చానన్న ఒక బాధ, మళ్ళి తిరిగి నాకు నేను దొరకనేమో అని ఒక భయం.

తిలక్ అన్నట్టు,

"ఆ రోజుల్ని తలుచుకొన్నప్పుడల్లా

ఆనందం లాంటి విచారం కలుగుతుంది

నేటి హేమంత శిథిల పత్రాల మధ్య నిలిచి

నాటి వాసంత సమీర ప్రసారాల తలచి

ఇంతేగదా జీవితం అన్న చింత

ఇంతలోనే ముగిసిందన్న వంత."

అంతలో పాట ఆగిపోయింది. నిశ్శబ్దం కమ్ముకుంది. నిశ్శబ్దం నన్ను, నా ఙ్ఞాపకాలను రెక్క పట్టుకుని లాక్కొచ్చింది. నిశ్శబ్దం మళ్ళీ నిర్జీవ జన సమూహంలోకి నెట్టేసింది.

బయట చలి. వెన్నులో ప్రవహించి వణుకు పుట్టిస్తుంది. ఈ వణుకు ఖచ్చితంగా చలిదే!!

Cricket Cricket..

It has been a mind-boggling month of events in the world of cricket. The test series between India and Australia was a spectacle of neck and neck battle. In amidst of the battle, announcement of Gichrist’s retirement was an unfathomable and unanticipated loss to OZs. They could stand up to the wave even after the bow out of Langer-Damien-Warne and McGrath. Can they, this time, again?

Unfortunate events that happened at Sydney definitely spur the momentum of Team India. They played extraordinary cricket at Perth. Perth, supposed to be an easy walk for OZs, but turned out to be a nightmare. They talked the talk, but couldn’t able to walk the walk. Indians played a like bunch of hungry cricketers. Their batting was immaculate, and bowling was spot on. Young Indian bowlers showed the charisma of orthodox and unorthodox swing bowling. They swung viciously with the new ball, especially Irfan and with the old ball; RP brought the reverse swing into picture, which is where the OZs were clueless against Poms, which cruised through the gate of OZs defense. Even though India lost the series by 2-1, but the fight they put up was something to relish in the coming years. It’s amazing to know that, India have been the only team where the OZs hurrah has been faltering. It was one more enthralling batting display by secular saint, Sachin Tendulkar, one of the greatest cricketers of all time.

The fourth day of fourth test was something special, Gilly announced his retirement. He decided to bow out of international arena. I felt he chose the perfect possible time to bow out (very few made this decision at right time). Gilly brought special significance to the keeper in a cricket team. Before his emergence into cricket, Keeper was considered to be a part time batsman and his primary job is to pouch the ball. But Gilly changed the facet of keeper criterion. He set the standards for the selection of keeper. He was the only player, who every team wished they had him. His aggression in the first fifteen overs was immeasurable. His strike rate is 96 in ODIs, who wouldn’t want him? Unlike his aggression, he is known for his humility and integrity and sportsmanship. He is the only player who would walk if he nicked the ball (Which is seldom in current bunch). Gilly will be remembered for his batting more than his keeping skills (remember 149 in the 2007 world cup final).

Shaun Pollock had the same thoughts as Gilly; even he retired from international cricket. Pollock, 34, made his decision to quit a bit sooner than expected. Pollock who started the career under the shades of his predecessors, made his own mark sooner than expected. His medium paced off cutters proved to be lethal. Even the best of the bests had no answer to his nagging off stump line. His meager runs per ball shows the evidence of his consistency. His batting skills were also handy, at times. He pulled out the Proteas from dire situations many times. But his miscalculation in 2003 world cup will remain as blemish in his illustrious career.

The irony in loosing these two players to their corresponding teams is, they lost two at the exit of one. Both in their primary job were as good as in their batting. Its a tricky trauma for the two sides. Anyway, Gilly bowed out, Pollock bid adieu. I wish, these two will have a great life after cricket.

On the whole, January was exciting, action-packed welcome to untiring cricket. Sachin belted some runs; Lee knocked over stumps, and cricket was the ultimate winner, again.

Nishant

'Nishant'-end of darkness was a movie made by Shyam Benegal in 70’s. 'Nishant' is a story about the exploitation of women and oppression of landlords, written by Vijay Tendulkar and the film stars Naseeruddhin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Smitha Patil, Amrish Puri and Girish karnad. I can say, undoubtedly, they belong to best bunch of actors of last millennium.

The story is about the incidents happened at a village in Andhra Pradesh during 40s. Naseeruddhin Shah is youngest brother of brutal, powerful landlord of village, Amrish Puri. Smitha Patil is wife of Naseeruddhin Shah, who keeps her husband away from his brothers, who actively indulge in alcohol and women (he himself is not inclined to all these habits). Girish Karnad is a school master, who gets transferred to this village, comes with his wife Shabana Azmi and only son. Naseer gets attracted to Shabana at the very first sight and keep thinking abt her all the time. One day his brothers observe the difference in Naseer and make him savor the alcohol and in that trance he reveals them his fascination for Shabana. At the same night, somebody knocks on the door of Girish, while they are having the dinner and Shabana opens the door to answer and to her surprise, Naseer’s brothers grab her and take her forcibly to their mansion. Girish tries to get har wife back in all the possible ways; he approaches the landlord, police, lawyers and collector, and what not!! All these efforts go in vain as no villager is ready to testify in front of court. At the end, with the help of the priest, Girish mobilizes the villagers and they successfully end the oppression of landlord by killing all the brothers. The ironic twist in the end was they kill both Shabana and Smitha in the spur of moment.

The film mainly depicts the oppression of landlords that had(s) been prevailing in the villages of India. In Girish we can see the plight of a helpless and cowardice middle class citizen of India. He even reconciles with the situation and starts to live as if nothing had happened. But the movie shows even the powerless, feeble and vulnerable people can become stronger and detrimental if they stand together against the atrocious, vicious force of oppression. Shabana’s tryst with Girish at the temple spurs him to mobilize the people and bring the difference in the society. Even though he succeeds in bringing the change, but the force gets cut loose without a substantial leader and unmethodical, disorganized approach. That’s why the end up killing innocent Smitha and Shabana, who were truly victims of the society, were not among culprits.

This was the debut film of Smitha Patil, one of the greatest actresses of bollywood. Shabana did her role impeccably. The photography of the movie is picturesque by Govind Nihalani. Nishant does need a fair bit of thinking to get the point that director wants to address. One need to put his effort to understand thoroughly, otherwise will be in 'Nisha'!!