Barber-ism
Going for a haircut have always been an ordeal for me. One can call it a phobia, laziness whatever, I have always felt an inertia heading to a Barber. As a result more often than not, I am found with heavy hair. I started calling it my signature style after the fact.
During my childhood, it was my Grandfather who used to take me for the haircut. “You look Junglee, Come let’s make you human again”, he used to say. That was the only the time when I wasn’t hesitant to go. Since then I have always procrastinated.
I think mostly it is due to me being lethargic. Or maybe it is due the futility of the chore. They will grow up again anyways; also they doesn’t stop me from doing anything. Sure, some people do comment on the long locks, others call me untidy. But I get some compliments too.
The fun part is, whenever I do go for a haircut, I pledge that from then on, it will be a regular thing. Alas! to no avail. In the blink of an eye, 6 months go by. Same long hairs, same untidy look. Another reason can be I was heavy built during my teenage. And subconsciously long hairs would have made me look a bit lean. Silly reason, but that’s all I can think of.
I went for the haircut yesterday. Pledged to come back sooner than later. But I know it is an exercise in futility.
कोई आस है वापस आने की
एक दर्द दबाए बैठा हूँ,
सीने में चुभन सी होती है,
दूर तेरे चले जाने की,
कोई आस है वापस आने की?
एक तूफ़ान समाये बैठा हूँ,
मन में उफ़न सी होती है,
श्रृंगार की बेला जाने की,
कोई आस है वापस आने की?
एक राज छुपाए बैठा हूँ,
ओठों पे कशिश सी होती है,
क्षितिज पार न देख पाने की,
कोई आस है वापस आने की?
एक आह समेटे बैठा हूँ,
आँखों में टीस सी होती है,
झर-झर मोती बह जाने की,
कोई आस है वापस आने की?
एक स्वप्न संजोए बैठा हूँ,
रातों को करवटें होती हैं,
नींद मेरी खुल जाने की,
कोई आस है वापस आने की?
एक आग लगाए बैठा हूँ,
हर अंग तपन सी होती है,
भस्म इसमें हो जाने की,
कोई आस है वापस आने की?
एक सांस को थामे बैठा हूँ,
भीतर से घुटन सी होती है,
ईश्वर से जा मिल जाने की,
कोई आस है वापस आने की?
Intolerance Debate: Understanding the Celebrity Shaming
A lot of celebrities were shamed, trolled for speaking their mind on intolerance. According to me they have every right of sharing their feelings. No one can take that away.
Somewhere media belittled the issue by highlighting the cases of Shahrukh and Aamir. What started off as celebrity trolling was relegated to an issue with religious undertones. In reality it was not just about the two superstars, a lot of writers were trolled too who did not share the same religion. But this angle was forgotten.
I want to explore the celebrity shaming issue in totality. I feel that even if Akshay Kumar would have said what Shahrukh said, he would have been subjected to the same. I am not defending the social media abuses that were hurled at anyone who said the country is intolerant. I am trying to understand why these celebrities were taken to task.
What I feel is, when common people saw these well off people cribbing about intolerance, somehow the anger erupted. It was like, when common Indian were struggling for water, food, shelter, the people who have everything were busy cribbing about first world problems.
I was talking to a friend of mine and he had this to say. “So the country is too intolerant for these stars who have all the luxuries in the world. They who spend most of time abroad, whose children study abroad, who have havens abroad, they find the country intolerant. By that reasoning, we who have no money to go abroad and have been living in India and will continue to live in India, are ch****a.”
People might have perceived it as rubbing the salt in their wounds. I don’t think it was related to national pride, as it was related to being laughed at. A rich person cribbing is never a humble figure. Feeling is like, “they crib with all the wealth, we who don’t have much should commit suicide then”.
Better would have been if these celebrities would have cribbed after donating part of their wealth. It would have given them some moral weight. In the absence of that, they came out as greedy people who are not content even with the entire world at their feet.
I might be wrong here. But this is what I feel.
Unravelling of Brand Shahrukh Khan
Unthinkable has happened. Fan is going to be SRK movie which falls short of 100 crores. Best estimate is 85 crore by the end of run.
For people like me who have grown up on movies during 1995-2010, it comes as a shock. It was an era when Shahrukh churned blockbusters one after another. There was a famous quote, “In Bollywood either Sharukh sells or sex sells”. This was the era when Salman, Aamir, Akshay were relegated to bygones. Since then Salman has went on to become Bollywood’s Rajnikant; Aamir is on a different planet altogether when it comes to box office collections. Even Ajay, Akshay have come back strongly. All this while Shahrukh has slowly faded.
They say a Superstar don’t need good story to make a movie a hit, he does it by his star power. A super star is defined not by the final collection of the movie, but by the initial (first weekend) it takes. Final collection depends on the content. With Fan even the initial was bad. With Dilwale at least the initial was respectable. But the signs of stagnancy were there.
When Dilwale was beaten by Bajirao Mastani, SRK was humbled. Shetty-Kajol-SRK combined, which was supposed to be a winner, ended up second to Bhansali’s magnum opus. With Fan, there was no zeal even among Shahrukh’s diehard fans.
I am a fan of all kind of cinema. Meaningful or Masala, Hindi or English. My only criterion is, movie should not bore me. With that yardstick, SRK movies have been somewhat boring of late. Bit by bit, they chewed up his stardom. This has led to the present when SRK is not able to command even a blockbuster opening.
How much fans he lost by various controversies in last few years is debatable. Does the intolerance debate lose him following? I hope not.
Maybe age is finally catching up with him. Is this curtain on a fairytale career? I for one would like to see many more romantic blockbusters from SRK. Way ahead looks tricky though.
Free Land to Hema Malini for Dance Academy: Public Service. Really!
Recently the issue of free plot (almost) allotted to Hema Malini was in news. That she was a BJP MP, made things murkier. That the plot was in plush area of Mumbai made the deal sweet. Sometimes I wonder why these people want freebies. Then the realization, who doesn’t like freebies? Would I not like to get a free piece of land, if I can bend the system to my advantage?
The mere explanation we get is that these artists have earned it by their hard work. In this case, she will build a Dance Academy. Earlier there was a case of acting school of Subhash Ghai with same reasons. Ok fine, I can understand Govt must promote such endeavors but at what cost?
Will Hema Malini teach there for free? Has she given in writing that students won’t be charged? Of course not. Is Subhash Ghai not charging fees? Of Course not. This issue is age old. Most of the private schools are given land almost for free across India. They promise to take certain percentage of Economic Weaker students for free every year. But we all know what they do. Rich parents don’t want their wards to sit with poor people. Hence to maintain status, schools grease some palms and voila! No more poor students.
Apart from AAP Govt in Delhi, I haven’t seen any other state taking steps to see that EWS get through and that these people keep their word.
I have an admission to make. I have standing serious issues with Hema Malini. She is MP from a constituency of Mathura, which is next to my hometown Agra. I for one know that she has done nothing for Mathura. She got elected on back of Modi wave. She hardly spends any time in Mathura. Now I know why. She is busy grabbing land in Mumbai. It takes a lot of time lobbying anyways.
Thanks to RTI such people are getting exposed. Otherwise all these years, they grabbed land and no one knew. I am just venting out. Nothing else I can do. Hopefully things will change. But I suspect not.
I stand with Kangana Ranaut
3rd class as Times of India newspaper is, it sunk to new low yesterday when it published leaked emails allegedly between Hrithik and Kangana. What’s more pathetic was the tone of the article which without any verification, insinuated that it was a one sided affair. That Kangana was obsessed with Hrithik. That it was an imposter who was emailing Kangana. That she was all at fault and not Hrithik.
When a leading daily has this sort of skewed mentality, what can we say about others in its ilk. I am appalled with media which is directly or indirectly siding with Hrithik. Such chauvinistic mindset is not helping anyone. Just because Kangana is not as big a brand as Hrithik, no one is coming out to support her? Just coz Kangana’s father is not Rakesh Roshan, everyone will laugh at her?
What right does Times of India and other pathetic papers have to publish about her illness? Why no news channel has taken this attack as a debate topic? It is evident now that Hrithik’s side is the one leaking the stories and email correspondences to the media. Why the need for character assassination?
I tell you why. Coz it doesn’t suits Hrithik’s stature to be associated with someone who does not come from family of Bollywood; the Roshan, the Khan, the Kapoor, the Bachchan cartels. If she were related to some Bollywood cartel, Mr Roshan would have been hiding and not attacking her.
She is a single lady who has come up on her own. She has been attacked all along. The Johars, Chopras and other big banners have stayed away. They would better work with other cartels’ sons and daughters. Despite all that, she has made a place for herself. Won National Awards.
I stand by Kangana in this hour. I am not a big fan, but I side with her on principle. It is saddening to see people like Bhoomata Brigade who would fight for women’s rights to worship inanimate stones but has nothing to say when a woman is attacked by a Superstar. God knows Bhoomata is Hrithik’s fan too? I haven’t seen National Commission for Women (NCW), taken suo moto action here. Maybe this doesn’t give them political mileage. Or maybe they too are Hrithik’s fans.
No other female Bollywood star has come out in support of Kangana, when the whole spineless industry was out in the open supporting the infamous Sanjay Dutt, who was then a terror accused. Even Mr. Kher is silent here. They are all ‘You scratch my back, I scratch’ yours’ kind of people anyways.
Don’t lose heart Kangana, millions of people scattered around the country are with you. The Media, Bollywood, Feminist cartels are silent today or are siding with Roshan. But people are with you. Hrithik’s attempt to attack you publicly (when no one even knew about this matter), has only shown that one may become a Superstar, but that doesn’t make one a Gentleman.
When skirts in pubs are banned, it is attack on women’s rights. But when a Superstar attacks a woman, she had it coming. That’s the apathy of the society we live in.
Reporters or Talk Show hosts?
On Fox News in USA, a long running news show is telecast ‘The Hannity’. It is run by a person Hannity. It’s just like any other prime time shows that come on News channels. People are interviewed and occasional panel discussions. Recently Hannity admitted that he is not a reporter but a Talk Show Host.
It was a very honest admission unlike the hypocrites we see in Indian News Media. Don’t get me wrong, US media is much worse. But let’s concentrate on India for a little bit. Every night on various news channels, we see Talk Show hosts posing as reporters and maligning the name of media.
My assertion is they are mere actors and their shows are not unlike ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’. They should not be allowed to call themselves reporters. Booming of News channels is a recent phenomenon in India and has grown during last 10-12 years or so. Initially these TV hosts were chosen from career reporters, who till then were foot soldiers. They got the opportunity to enter the TV studios but they just never left. Slowly they lost touch with the reality, with people. The lure of fat pay and big AC Studios was far too much when compared to heat/dust/sweat/pain that comes with real reporting.
Situation is even grimmer now. People without any experience in reporting are directly hired as Debate show hosts. Only requirement is one should be able to speak good English. Their knowledge of political, social situations doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is the eyeballs they can generate. The TRP’s!
Why I cited example of Hannity was, at least he was true enough to admit what he really is. A Talk Show Host. After a smug political breed, a new smug Media breed has emerged. They want special treatment, passes, perks and what not. My only advice to these people is, be honest and admit you are Talk Show Hosts. Maybe then real reporters will be able to redeem the profession.
Short skirts, safety and security
The age we in is of discontent, anger and negativity. Some studies say that social media is to blame where negative bias has taken over. Negative news is more likely to be re-posted than a positive one. Over time this grows in magnitude. Anything we read, our first reaction is to find fault. Not everything the Govt. does is against women, against religions, against castes. But people like to play victim and make everything sound bad. Never do they try and understand why.
If we take a step back and analyze a particular thing from a logical and impartial point of view, most of the times we would see merit in it. Sometimes people are too afraid of the popular backlash that we feel safe in following the herd. Without knowing the context and ground realities we say what others are saying. And we fit right in. At times it is not politically correct to speak the truth hence we keep shut.
Once such issue is clothes worn by women in public in India. Whenever some authority figure urges women to not wear short and revealing clothes in public, he/she is castigated and character assassinated. Bigot, orthodox, obnoxious and what not. Never once people try and analyze the realities around that statement.
Let me relate the realities. India has a pathetic ratio of police to people. It is getting better day by day, but in its current form, we are not able to provide good policing. Law and order situation is real bad. I for one am supportive of women rights but am skeptical when it comes to safety. When I know the roads are not safe, would I wish women in my family to get harmed?
I agree, the pathetic mindset of men is to blame and not the women for wearing what they like. Yes, we as a society have failed. But it is a reality. Rather than living in a Utopian fantasy world, it’s better to know the ground.
Once the policing is better and there is ample safety, no one will suggest women what to wear and what not to. But someone has to point out the obvious albeit at the risk of being castigated. I would urge all women to see the locality you are living/going to. Stupid people will encourage you to wear short clothes and hail it as a victory of feminism. The victory of feminism will not change the reality on the ground.
I even tell people not to flaunt money if going to places where you feel less safe. Am I anti wealth? No, just using common sense. I might be called names for writing this, but what the hell. So much for being cautious!
Ola Uber surge pricing: Paid Media decry the ban
App based Taxi services have been charging higher during peak hours under the fancy name of ‘Surge Pricing’. There has been a lot of hue and cry by public across the country, but given the pathetic state of public transport, people could do nothing but pay often x2, x3 the fare.
Similar thing was noticed during Odd/Even days in Delhi when understandably the demand was high. People ended up paying up to x4 the fare. Then came the warning from Delhi Govt., post which the surge pricing was suspended by both Ola and Uber. What I noticed next was really funny.
Uber sent a notification to its users explaining that if they see ‘no cabs’ around, it is due to the surge pricing ban by Govt. And then there were paid lobbyists who started campaigning under the garb of ‘blogs’ on news websites. They say what Delhi Govt has done is death to free market and sends a wrong signal to innovation. They use the same fancy term, ‘Surge Pricing’ which is an ‘algorithm’ developed by these companies based on demand and supply. Let me point out why they are hypocrites.
These were the same people who used to tear up their clothes and run naked, when asked return fare by auto drivers. “These auto wallas, I tell you. Such bad people. The guy charged me half return (x1.5). The loot I say”. Those were their lines. Now they are justifying Surge Pricing. Just coz auto wallas didn’t pay them to lobby on their behalf and Ola/Uber did. Or maybe because they consider poor auto drivers perfect vehicle to vent their anger and rich taxi aggregators too premium to lambast. Or maybe they have some other convoluted justification.
If they ask for free market then why the smirk when auto unions ask for hike in auto fare? Why smirk when during peak hours auto drivers ask for x1.5 or x2. Don’t they deserve surge pricing? Or is surge pricing only applicable for those having AC cabs.
What more is, I have seen such anger at auto drivers among the so called educated people. As if auto drivers are kings and live in palaces. They are poor people and live in shoddy conditions. But no, they don’t deserve surge pricing. Only AC cabs too.
No doubt cab aggregators have made life simpler for commuters. They provide safety and security. But they should not be allowed cannibalism. First eliminate competition (autos) by making losses/providng free rides and then go for the kill (surge pricing).
I am not against surge pricing as it comes heavy on my pocket. I am against it as it is cannibalism. India has a lot of poor people who live by driving auto rickshaws. We need to protect their livelihood for the sake of humanity.
And remember all the coupons and 6/- per km rides will go away very soon. And when the prices become stable, what will remain are carcasses of auto’s and the surge pricing.
What ails social media?
Social media sprung upon us, all too suddenly. Before we could catch a breath, we were sucked into the world of facebook, twitter and whatsapp. The orthodox news media lost credibility over the years with monopolized biased reporting influenced by economic factors. If you pay for ads, we will say/print what you want. It was as if the consumers’ views didn’t matter at all. If you read/saw news that you knew to a blatant lie, you could do nothing to vent the anger. You just had to live with it.
Here is where social media came in. It gave people that medium to vent. The consumers became the news producers. Everyone was a reporter. It became platform for truth to be said. It was hailed as the voice of silent majority. People with big money didn’t have the hold on news anymore. It was liberation. One could express freely without fear.
But the bubble has started to burst. Paid accounts/pages on social media have paved way for big money to sneak in. Most of the news you see originates from Pages/Accounts, which are paid for. They are so many of them and the flooding continues. People see, people share. And thus the biased stories spread.
Reliability of news on social media is another issue. It is very easy to fake a story without major repercussions. And people do take advantage of this fact. Character assassination is common. Orthodox media lost credibility owing to propaganda stories it started running. Same is happening with social media. Paid accounts have taken the steam off liberation. We are nearing the stage of mean reversal.
Orthodox media lost touch with grass root reality. It became a rant from AC studios, mouthing propaganda. Social media is also going the same way. Paid for news, blasted to millions of people. On macro level, social media has lost touch with reality too. It has broadened the spectrum a bit. Instead of AC studios, it is run from AC rooms.
Social media was hailed as a medium to speak freely. This has also faded. People are so afraid to be lambasted on their views that they go by majoritarian view. They post what they feel people will like. They do not post what they fear will get hate comments. And hence went away the freedom.
A novel experiment has gone astray. My optimism says another one will spring up soon.
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