Delhi Diary 11

Airtel conducted the half marathon on Sunday 27th Nov - for publicity and for health concerns. But these marathons are incomplete without the presence of "Bollywood". So we had Shah Rukh Khan and Bipasha Basu as brand ambassadors of the Airtel half marathon, to encourage the participants. Funny part was, all their encouragement from a raised poduim had quite the opposite effect! Thousands of eager runners stopped right in front of the cine stars and refused to budge. All hands were raided towards them, not in salute but to click pictures!!! The actors had to be taken away from the visibility zone for the crowd to remember why they were there in the first place. But when asked, quite a few said they had come to run only to see the celebrities. Wah India!!!

Bol

Bol, directed by Shoaib Mansoor is a film worth watching. The opening of the film itself hooks the audience when a beautiful young girl gets ready for the gallows. But before she has the noose tightening around her neck, she has a story to tell which results in--Bol. And she has a question for society to answer--if it can-- Why is bringing a new life on earth not a crime if you cannot take care of that life?
I think the film has hit hard on the narrow and closed thinking of society which is patriarchal. In your pursuit of a male child, you can afford to produce 6 or 7 female children, however, incompetent you are in bringing them up. And that is not all. Different rules govern the women's lives and men's, and this is of course decided by the men. Why? Simply because they have muscle power. I cannot understand how a person with a reasonable amount of intelligence can excuse his weaknesses simply by saying that God will provide for all. It seems it is God's will that one should have as many children possible, how you look after them does not matter!!!
This is one part of the story of god's will while the other side is the inhuman killing of the female child. The repercussions to such heinous acts are showing already with the growing number of begging children on the streets (in the first case) and the skewed sex ratio (in the second).

Human Rights and Kashmir

The month of May this year, brought the aam kashmiri and the men in olives together on one platform – to discuss human rights in Kashmir. Yes, does sound paradoxical. For years now the army has not been considered the best of friends of the common man in Kashmir. But the change is now apparent. Conflict resolution is no doubt a complex and difficult issue. A degree of restraint by the concerned forces is showing through ways of winning over the hearts of the people.
The two-day seminar proceedings were beamed live to the LOC so that every jawan could be a part of the seminar. In fact, this seminar was conducted at a very appropriate time. The tourist season has been picking up this summer and the general atmosphere has lightened up. In such circumstances, the army has done quite a bit of soul searching and come up with an agenda for change to bring about the true elements of Kahmiriyat, of tolerance, transparency and acceptance. The year 2011 is being looked at as the year of change, where the army has expressed its willingness to discuss and debate issues that have been cause for so much turmoil in the valley. This year the separatists and the terrorists are on the backfoot. Army is retaining the initiative of being on top of the situation. Unfortunately, the army has been the favourite whipping boy and this has come about due to a lack of understanding across society. But today things are changing. Takreer and tehzeeb are the key words today.
The shikara ride on Dal Lake reminded me of the paradise that actually exists.

Our Daughters are our Sons???

Taslima Nasreen has recently commented on a remark made by actor Priyanka Chopra’s father. She is like a son to me, said he about his daughter. Taslima immediately chastigated him on Twitter demanding why he should have compared his daughter to a son!

I wonder which world does Taslima inhabit? Does she know how important it is for most people in our part of the world to have son? Such a comment coming from someone who has grown up in a patriarchal society…

The idea is to get these concepts out of a growing child’s mind before it takes deep root. No point hitting out at fathers with fixed ideas.

I too look forward to the day when parents begin to raise their sons more like their daughters. Unfortunately, going by the female infanticide data in India, that is going to take some time.

The Urge

The Urge, a take-off from Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors was staged at the ITC Maurya Sheraton’s Neel Mahal on Nov 5, 2011. Directed by Aamir Raza Husain, it was quite a hit with the audience, which was mostly upper crust. The play was sponsored by Aircel and the spectators mostly comprised their customers. But such entertainment is most welcome, I guess. Since the hall was not an auditorium, it came with its disadvantages. All the chairs were arranged at the same level with a not too high stage. So I had to crane my neck this way and that to catch a glimpse of the players.
On the whole, the play provided wholesome entertainment filled with laughter, with each character essaying his/her role with panache but the cake was taken by George, played by Aamir Raza himself. I loved the Italian accent put on by Anthony Corelli, the opera singer.

Taxi - the play

The play, Taxi, put up by the Actor Factor theatre group left me wondering about the extent of responsibility with the actors to explain their motives through their work. Though the hook in the promos said Beckettsian, I would not go that far. On the whole there was a disconnect, at least with me. The play somehow did not come together. The acting skills of course were good, that was the saving grace. I somehow had expected much more from Sunit Sinha, the director. Maybe, I am a little obtuse and did not quite get what they wanted to tell us. In the play, the taxi apparently took us on a ride to nowhere and that’s where I was led to - Nowhere.

Film Appreciation

I spent some great time attending a film appreciation workshop organized by the PSBT at IIC on 9th, 12th and 13th September, conducted by Prof Suresh Chabria of FTII. Learnt some new things about films and watched some wonderful films as well. I could spend all my days simply watching good films. Some of the film we were shown seen in parts included: The Man with a Movie Camera (amazing sound and editing), Triumph of the Will (camera and music were manipulated to suit the ideology), Night Mail (the huge panorama and unfolding of the story of the Night Mail), Sunless (a diary of events and people, very evocative), Last Train Home (migrants trying to get home for the New Year - the labour of migrants and the desperation...), Burma VJ (shot on handycam undercover showing monks joining anti establishment protests), Snapshots from the Family Album (a boy trailing his mother on camera, worked beautifully because the mother was a very intelligent person), Workers (one of the factory gate films, quite remarkable), Once Upon a Time in the West (wonderful sound, edit and picturization), The Leopard (remarkable storytelling through cinematography using abundant metaphors), Bombay (cinematography and story telling technique quite spectacular), 2001-A Space Odyssey (must see to believe!), Apocalypse Now (wonderful rendition of the heart of the forest in the mind of man), Meshes in the Afternoon (a dream sequence left to the viewer's imagination for interpretation), 12 miles to Trona (lovely cinematography reflecting the agony of a drugged experience), Mother India (the community feel through music and picturization is unique), Taste of Cherry ( a different narrative style, involves the audience right from the beginning)....well, so that is the list. No wonder it was a learning and eye opening experience. Wishing myself many more such experiences!!!

Delhi Diary 10

September 7, quite a bad day for New Delhi. Another bomb blast in the capital and a repeat this time in the premises of the High Court. 13 dead and more than 70 injured. Two terrorist groups claim responsibility. They are so eager to be claimants to this dastardly deed! So what do we do? Sit over it for some time and move on? Why can our laws not be tough enough? I hear we have enough laws in place. So who implements them?
So this blast happens at 10.15am and a mid size earthquake (4.2 on the richter scale) rattles Delhi and the NCR at 11.45pm! For the first time I felt the earth move for a few seconds. These incidents really bring me to feel the ever present shadow of death, always close.

Delhi Diary 9

Very, very strange word – Democracy. After the making of history with Anna Hazare’s call to India to end corruption through the Lokpal bill, I am now utterly confused about this word. Under democracy, we the people are supposed to elect our representatives. (Wish all of us could sit in Parliament. As it is, quite a ruckus is created by the representatives in there.) These representatives are supposed to run the country for our benefit. Well no sign of that. But they keep telling us how much they look out for the aam aadmi. So we have corruption in our country few others could compete with. But the Govt says they are not responsible. The PM knows nothing. The top ministers know nothing; they are pure as snow. But one scam after the other unfolds daily. Media is having field days!!!
Fed up with all this and with this heavily populated country sitting around doing nothing, a 74- year-old decides it’s time for India to decide. So he goes on a fast. He has a number of apolitical members on his side who have been fighting corruption one way or the other. Now what would you say to a hunger strike? Is it illegal? Undemocratic? Underhand? Blackmail? Do you think there was any other way that the government would have capitulated to the Lokpal bill?
The clarion call by Anna brought thousands of Indians across class and creed together demanding an end to corruption. Probably, the ruling party did not see this kind of a response.
So now things are in place – supposedly. Anna ended his 12-day fast and the Lokpal bill will be looked at – these are the first steps to a corruption free India. Difficult to imagine though!! Some people know only this kind of living. They will perish, the poor fellows, or they will fight - too bad.
So how do we proceed now? When a corrupt official asks for a bribe, how do we blow the whistle? Is there a person we contact, a bell we ring, a number we dial? I am waiting for this tiny bit of information which will make my life a lot easier.
Proud to be an INDIAN!

The Mystery of Martand Haveli

After hearing great reviews last year about Crazy Spotlight Productions’ One Night only, I decided I would be foolish not to see this year’s production, viz., The Mystery of Martand Haveli. The play was staged at Sri Ram Centre and the hall was packed. The actors were good as was the set design. What was missing was the compactness of a mystery. It seemed loose at places and attention dithered. But humour there was plenty. What struck was Shehnaaz, the eccentric detective taking the cake with her Punjabi accented English and the full on use of sexual innuendoes. Kamini and Damini, the detective twins synchronized their movements wonderfully. All the actors were quite competent. As a director, Nikhil has done a good job, though this genre is unchartered territory for him as yet.
Kudos to these talents who have made theatre their passion!

Adhe Adhure

On 31st July I saw a play – Mohan Rakesh’s Adhe Adhure. I had heard about this play earlier but what got me interested was the ensemble cast. With Lilette Dubey directing and acting with Mohan Agashe as co-actor was simply too much to resist. This 105 minute play in two acts was engrossing. The storyline in today’s context was nothing unusual, though set in 1969, it was. A dissatisfied woman who tries to get her house in order, an unhappy man, three children grappling with themselves and their surroundings, a home bursting at the seams with dissonance… So who comes out the winner?? No one. The lady tries to break away, to make a happy life for herself and fails. The men in her life somehow never come forward to support her. Her children are cocooned in their stories. The man of the house utterly depressed, leaves the house to be with a friend but cannot remain away for long. Life continues…half lived.
Mohan Agashe’s portrayal of four men in the play was a winner and he did it with all the honesty of an actor. Lilette stated at the end of the play (while taking the bow) that she had promised herself when she first saw this play while in college, that Adhe Adhure would be her first play directed in Hindi and at Delhi. Well, she did a good job of it. Congratulations!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts I & II

Finally, the end. Something I had dreaded when the books came out and dreaded once again when the movies came. And all because I’m a Harry Potter fan – big time! The last two parts of the Harry Potter movie saga and the last book were the most bleak and dark and weighed heavily through the screening and the read. Perhaps that’s the reason the after death experience with Harry seemed so out of place – it was so white! But director David Yates has handled the imaginary world so beautifully that it was easy to have my imagination fusing with that of the director’s. Sadly, one has to take the restrictions of a movie into account and that is where movies have always fallen short of the books.
Now the question is, do we live on without another session at Hogwarts or is JK Rowling already yielding the quill and filling up reams with another magical journey? I so hope it’s the latter!

Goodbye Forever

An English play by Feisal Alkazi. It has two acts and is 105 mins long. I went to see because it was directed by Alkazi. Now this play had members of the Alkazi family involved in prominent roles. And yes, all are capable actors.
So your loved one dies suddenly. You are yet to come to grips with this loss when suddenly she returns!! How do you deal with it? The husband is the happiest person, greeting his wife with love and prohibiting her to leave again. The son, on the other hand, reacts differently. He knows she is a ghost and cannot stay. The mother- in- law played ably by Sohaila Kapur hits the nail on the head when she tells the family that this situation was not right. Anyway, she was not very fond of Estelle either as her husband was quite smitten by his daughter in law.
Estelle was in the middle of rearranging her house furniture when she died. So she comes back to complete the task and while she is at it, she manages to reconcile the family to her death. In fact, the play ends with the husband offering to drive her back to the graveyard and the young son breaks down for the first time since her death.
Alkazi describes the play beautifully - About loving and leaving... of laughter and forgetting.
Letting go is what the play is all about.

Learning to appreciate Western Classical Music

Do you think a 2-day workshop of four hours on Appreciating Western Classical music is enough? Well I do not. Nevertheless, I enrolled and Sunit Tandon did his best to do justice to the topic. It was an introduction no doubt, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I've found that my favourite composers are from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods. When I mention some of them, you'll know why. Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Wagner, Verdi, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Strauss all belong within these periods. Their music simply opens up another dimension of the mind from which I'm loathe to return. Music can simply feed your soul and make you expand beyond known dimensions. See, its turned me into a poet and it'll do the same for you!!!

Glimpses of the Beauty of Kashmir

Kashmir

The seven days I got to spend in Kashmir were heavenly, to say the least. I attended a two-day seminar on Human Rights in Kashmir organized by the Army (what does this say?) at Srinagar. It was a well thought out program with learned panelists interacting with a very active audience, which besides the men in olive green also had students and teachers from the Kashmir University. The panelists included Sadia Dehlvi, Dr Manoj Joshi, Cok Ajay Shukla (Retd), Farooque Andrabi, Dr Riyaz Punjabi, Dr SM Sahai (IG Police), Prof Siddiq Wahid, Justice BC Patel, Gen Patankar (Retd), Dilafroz Qazi,and others, none any less. They put forward their views and took questions graciously. All this has come about as an initiative taken by the army to bring about a change in the atmosphere prevailing in this State, and the change is perceptible. This paradise does not deserve to be mauled by self interested parties destroying the very fabric of Kashmiriyat.
The visit to the city showed up a vibrant place teeming with tourists and there was no trace of fear or tension in the area. I had my fill of qahva. The shikara ride on the Dal Lake brought back memories of my visit to this place 25 years ago. Of course there was no coffee joint like Coffea Arabia here back then, where I enjoyed the cold coffee and paneer shwarma along with the peppy ambience.
I then spent some time with my friends in Kupwara and what a way to connect with nature. The mountains green with pine trees, the swift flowing Lolab, the apple trees already full with tiny apples, the chinar trees, wild strawbwrry flowers encountered on our treks, the clear air and sky along with the lovely company - it was indescribable. Go visit Kashmir and you will know what I mean.

The Cinema Buff's dream

For a film buff like me, things couldn’t have been better. Saw some good films I have been wanting to see for some time: The King’s Speech, Black Swan, The Fighter, Do Dooni Chaar, Band Baja Baarat, Saat Khoon Maaf, Dhobi Ghat. Heh, heh. Couldn’t feel happier. I am soooo full of cinema and what one could call varied cinema and I enjoyed each one of them.
I am not surprised that I cannot rate any of them. I would advice anyone, who would care to listen, to see each one of them, unbiased.
Each of the hindi films mentioned above was well made and had something new to offer. I know the movie is good if I watch without getting irritable. So take my word and go ahead. The oscar winning and nominated movies had to be good where each actor was better than the other.

Images from the South 2

Snapshots of Pondicherry, Chidambaram and Mahabalipuram
The lighthouse at Pondicherry; Chidambaram temple; One of the Rock cut temples of Mahabalipuram; the Shore temple

Images from the South

Here are some of the amazing snapshots of Pondicherry. The statue of Saint Joan of Arc; Hotel de Ville now the Municipality office; The Promenade; The Aurobindo Ashram; The Bay of Bengal

A trip to Pondicherry, Chidambaram and Mahabalipuram

I barely got 24 hours to prepare myself for a trip down south and normally I like to be mentally ready, not that I am going to battle. So leave from work, adjustments at home and there I was flying to Chennai with my husband early in the morning on 24th March, 2011. Landed and then drove down NH 45 to Pondicherry which took about three hours and to our hotel Seabay GRT Grand, a comfortable place. I tucked in to my fill at the buffet for lunch and had a good sleep. In the evening, went for a walk on the promenade by the sea. This road is also known as the Beach road. In fact, this is one of the main attractions of Pondicherry or Puducherry, though the former is very much in use. Perpendicular and parallel roads lead from the Beach road into the city and these are mostly the original French areas with 19th century buildings, each one better then the other. The French names are still retained and you have Dumas street, Surcouf street, Bussy street, Francois Martin street, Saint Martin street and Compagnie street, to name a few. But it is worthwhile to walk these streets if you like heritage buildings. Some inportant buildings next to the sea include a lighthoude dated 1836, Our Lady of Angels Church facing which is the kneeling statue of Saint Joan of Arc, the French War memorial, a recent addition of Mahatma Gandhi's statue and Le Cafe. Getting back to my first day, well, it ended with a sumptuous dinner at the Promenade (this one is a good hotel) and India won the cricket match against Australia. Next morning, left for Chidambaram since Mr Ravishankar, our host thought to absolutely essential that we see this temple of the Nataraja signifying the Chidambaram Rahasya. Took us about an hour and a half to reach and we crossed Cuddalore which had been badly mauled by the tsumani (2004). On the way, I saw salt fields as well. This time our host was Mr Bhaskaran who kept us informed about each and every aspect of the place. On the way to the temple, I breakfasted on iddyappam for the first time and was really satisfied. On our return, I had the South Indian Thali and cleaned out most of the food except for the very spicy dishes. The payasam was a favourite. Also whenever I could, I had South Indian filter coffee.
Between the return to Puducherry and the South Indian thali I did what I enjoyed whole heartedly - exploring the city. First visit was to the Aurobindo Ashram and I visited the samadhis of Rishi Aurobindo and the Mother. The place was crowded but there are peace all around. I was disappointed though at not being able to explore the house where the great revolutionary lived. Apparently, it is not for public display which is strange. Next visit was the famous Ganesha temple where ganesha is known as Manakula Vinayaka. Thanks to Mr Bhaskaran's contacts, as in the Chidambaram temple, here too we were granted a smooth darshan of the idols. An elephant greets worshippers here and blesses them. Next I explored the streets taking in my fill of heritage buildings, most of them well maintained.
In the afternoon, we left for Mahabalipuram and the Shore temple by the East Coast road and had a lot to capture on camera. Returned tired and happy, dined, caught some sleep and early the next morning were on the way to Chennai airport sleeping most of the way. Caught the flight and were back to the Capital in no time.

Water Issues

Attended a workshop called by the US Embassy on Water Issues in India: Opportunities and Challenges. Various well known water experts like Ashok Jaitly, Himanshu Thakkar, Kapil Narula, Sanjay Pahuja, Renu Gera, Amit Kanodia, AK Bajaj, Anupam Mishra, Amit Bose,Deepak Saxena and many others spoke their minds. Well, one thing is pretty clear - the Water Crisis is here. So what are we doing about it?? Why does the Govt. not pass a law making it mandatory to have water harvesting systems in all housing societies, independent homes, office buildings, etc. Also age old water storage structures as old as 500 years and more in Rajasthan are even today providing pure drinking water to the desert state. Shouldn't we follow these examples rather than build water tanks that crumble in no time or fix tubewells that are always bone dry?
Water management is the key area to be focussed on and I hope we are not too late.

Tughlaqabad Fort - a walk

On Jan 30, 2011, I had the opportunity to visit the Tughlaqabad fort in the Tughlaqabad area of Delhi. This came about when I registered for one of the heritage walks organized by IHC and the guide was journalist, Sunil Raman, who seemed quite at ease with the surroundings. It was quite a big group and most of us were interested in the historical drama of the place. The fort spreads over 6.5 kms and is in ruins. In fact, it is said that there is no historical record describibg the city within the walls as a thriving place. Early travelers have also described this place as a ruin. The founder of the Tughlaq dynasty, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq rose from the ranks of the Khilji army and took over from his masters and constructed this fort as a protective measure from Mongols attacking from the south. Unfortunately or fortunately, no wars took place in the five years that the fort was occupied. After the death of Ghiyas-ud-din (some say he was murdered by his son, Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq), the fort was abandoned and turned into a ruin.
As we took the walk, the administrative area and the residential area could be demarcated. Interestingly, there are quite a few water reservoirs within the fort. Some excavation work conducted by ASI has left its mark. Across the Mehrauli-Badarpur road, lies the tomb of Ghiyas-ud-din. Before the road was built, the fort connected directly with the causeway over an artificial reservoir. The causeway still stands though there is no trace of water. The tomb is a beautiful sloping squarish structure with a single dome. The outer walls of the tomb are made of red sandstone. Inside are three tombs with the central one belonging to Ghiyas-ud-din. The two other are said to belong to his wife and son. Within this complex lied the tomb of Zafar Khan, a favoured general of Tughlaq. Another interesting tomb is that of Tughlaq’s dog. The entire structure is quite bereft of elaborate carvings or inscriptions.
As the fort walls and the mausoleum catch the rays of the setting sun, it is not difficult to imagine the beauty of the place with water filling the reservoir and serenity emanating from the forest area around.

Streer Potro

The Rangmahotsav 2011 brought with it great theatre and as usual I managed to catch a play on the last day of this theatre festival on January 22. But I am glad I got to see this throbbing enactment of Tagore's Streer Potro (The Wife's Letter), performed by Neelam Mansingh Chaudhary's The Company. Ramanjit was the protagonist and very cleverly her role was divided into two, the other essayed wonderfully by Rocky.The story and the characters were able to move the audience to tears. Raman's histrionics were truly impressive.

India Art Summit

Visited the India Art Summit on January 21, 2011 at Pragati Maidan. Needless to say, I was awestruck with the creativity around. Just taking in all the work placed around was a surreal experience. Enjoyed every bit of it.