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.