Day 72!

Sri Lanka the new world T20 cricket champions. The more deserving team won! And a fitting farewell to two such fantastic players - Mahela Jayawardane and Kumar Sangakkara. #MenInBlue.

Is it me, or is the world losing it?

The world is indeed a strange place to live in...

We Indians believe in God, a lot, mostly out of fear. We believe in dedicating each day to a God. And we believe in celebrating every festival possible. All good till here? Well, mostly. Unless like me, you find this undaunted staunchness in religion weird. Now comes the stranger part.
To honour the Gods and Goddesses, we don't play hymns or bhajans at the make shift pandals in Calcutta. We play the most raunchy Bollywood songs available! From Sheila to Fevicol to Munni.. You just have to name it!

News came in today that there's been a meteorite shower in Russia. All these years whenever the papers carried news of prospective showers, they never were actually visible. And look today what hit the unprepared Russians! Way to go NASA and similar organizations!

Oh and the main traffic signals of Calcutta have songs of Rabindra Nath Tagore being played all day long. Like the honking wasn't enough! But that is the change our Honorable Chief Minister believes in bringing about. Are we obliged or what?!

Oh! The Gods have a new song to listen to... Hookah Bar is being played now!

The Bucket List!

One of these days, while surfing on the internet, I came across a bucket list on www.richardcastle.net. And his bucket list is really, really cool! Richard Castle, by the way, is a fictional character, played by Nathan Fillon on the hit series Castle.

For those who've been caught unawares, bucket list is a sort of to-do list you want to complete before you kick the bucket (die, in the morose sense, if that's what you prefer.)!

My bucket list, or rather what I could compile as of now is :

• Sky diving! Bungee jumping too!
• Lighting a sky lantern!
• Painting the Indian flag on my cheeks and cheering for India! Go India!
• Get my dad to join me on the giant wheel! Should this be on his bucket list or mine?
• Reading all the Archie comics! I still don't know whether Archie married Betty or Veronica! He did get married, right? 
• Ok. Find out if Archie got married!

I'll be back with more!

Till then put up your list, fellas!

Independent India? Sure?

Independence Day = Holiday.

That's what it's come down to for most of us!

My plan for the day was similar — to sleep, chill out and catch up with friends. But I didn't know what was in store for me.

While flicking channels, I came across a tele-film on the Mumbai 26/11 attacks titled 'Un Hazaaron Ke Naam'.

Curiosity and lack of anything else at hand, drove me to watch the film. I, for one, had read all the reports on the attacks in 2008. The CST shooting, barging in to the Nariman House, sieges in Taj and Oberoi, everything. Yet, when I saw the film, I had tears pouring down with every scene. I could recall the stories read in the papers, the way people had lost their lives, officers had been gunned down, the media had reported.

And then?

Then what?

Then we forgot about it. We moved on. Months later, 26/11/2008 is just a date.

Ajmal Kasab, one among those, who mercilessly gunned down people, to prove a point unbeknownst to all was arrested. The only terrorist to have been arrested.

And what did India do?

Provide him with security, food, shelter and a chance to defend himself! Defend against what? A crime that the entire nation had seen him commit?!

Is this the direction in which we’ll be moving? On one hand, citizens are put behind bars for circulating cartoons, for asking questions (read: asking Maoist-related questions to CM Mamata Banerjee tends to land you in jail!), for demanding an anti-corruption bill and on the other hand we are yet to mete out justice to a man who crashed across the Indian borders, killed hundreds of citizens, brought the entire nation to a standstill for nearly three days!

Can you imagine the pain their families must be going through? Going to sleep every night knowing that the person who killed their loved one will definitely live to see the sun rise for yet another day!

Spine-less, corruption – fed, hit by scams and heists, crime – infested, filled with political dramas — the mention of India and the Indian government brings these words to my mind!

Sure, I love my India.

But what do I love about it?

Its culture, its history, its diversity.

But that is the heritage which has been handed over to us.

What about today? Tomorrow?

65 years of Independence. Have we made our freedom fighters proud?

I wish finding the answers were easier.

P.S. : I’d strongly recommend you to watch the film ‘Un Hazaaron Ke Naam’. Not because I want you to shed tears. Because I’m sure most of you will feel what I felt after watching it!

Back to winning ways after long!

It’s been a long time since I last wrote, and it’s the viral attack doing the rounds in Calcutta that’s to blame!

One boon during this period of bane was that I got to watch a lot of Olympics events which, with my normal schedule wouldn’t have been possible.

4 medals at the Olympics — our biggest haul till date and also the biggest Indian contingent! More than the number of medals what pleases me more, is the strength of the Indian contingent this year. There have been so many events to look forward to which had Indian participation. Maybe we weren’t good enough to storm the finals and get medals but we were good enough to have qualified at the Olympic level!

If we have a Mary Kom fighting it out in the boxing ring, we also have a Tintu Luka in the 800 m semi-finals of athletics, Sahana Kumari for high jump, Renjith Maheshwary for triple jump, and add in a few more for shot put, discus throw, rowing, tennis, badminton, shooting, archery, hockey to name  a few!

It’s good to see a cricket-crazy nation go crazy for other games too! Today, we see players like Parupalli Kashyap, Vijay Kumar, Devendro Singh, MC Mary Kom, Krishna Poonia make the headlines. Normally, we have to scrounge through the sports pages to even find their mention!

Along with the spectacular and stellar performances on one hand, we’ve had to see major upsets too. The tennis contingent, hockey team, Deepika Kumari - led archery team, Vijender Singh, Sushil Kumar, and Abhinav Bindra. The names itself recall those dreams of victories that have been shattered!

But we’ll take it all in true sportsman spirit and applaud the efforts of the Indian Olympic contingent for having managed to qualify at the world level and keep India’s flag flying high! Let’s hope we end 2012 Olympics on an even higher note and prepare for a bigger and better show at the Rio Olympics!

Till then, back to London!

Move over CID! Castle's here to stay!

Two weeks ago, Crime at 10, kicked off on Star World. Season 4 of Castle began in India. I am a huge fan of the Castle series and more so because the only action thriller series we have here in India is the long standing and seemingly never-ending CID.

CID has been going on, on Sony TV, for what seems like forever (15 years, to be precise!). The core team of ACP Pradyuman, Daya, Abhijeet and Freddie has probably remained the same and sometimes even actors portraying the criminals have been repeated! Every case has the same action sequences with Daya breaking doors, Abhijeet jumping around, ACP giving away orders for even the smallest of jobs like making a phone call (all the while practicising Fleming's left-hand rule! You know what I mean? For details search CID PJs on Google!) and the entire team taking potshots at Freddie! Even the so-called banter between the Forensic lab doc and the Head of the CID department has now lost its flavour. 
And have you noticed how all the CID officers stand in a semi-circle around the criminal in the last scene of the episode facing the camera instead of facing the criminal?! Every Indian, whether as a critique or fan, has at some point or the other definitely seen CID. I, for one, am a critique.


One night, while flipping channels, I stopped at Star World. That was my first glimpse of Richard Castle. He was, as usual nagging Katherine Beckett with his out-of-the-world theories. One episode was enough to make me fall in love with them both! That was the first series of Castle being shown on Indian television. Voila! My search for a good detective series on TV was over! I wouldn't have to satiate my thirst by watching CID now!


Castle is funny, has mystery dipped in a fair amount of the stomach-churning butterfly moments of romance between Kate and Richard and a huge platter of human drama and emotions. All without losing the main plot of a being a thriller. Maybe it's not the best of its genre but I love what I see and all else doesn't really matter. Not just Castle and Beckett, but the rest of the team also add to the fun! The banter between Espesito and Ryan, the bonding with the old Captain and the fear of the new one, the small scenes of Castle with his family — they all add to the essence of the series.
The portrayal of both the lead characters has been done beautifully. While on one hand, Kate is the always-confident and ready-to-give-it-all for the department, she has her own share of pains and insecurities. Castle, however funny and child-like he might seem with his weird theories and just-too-active mind, is mature enough when it comes to his daughter, Alexis. He is his family's support system even when on the move with Beckett. Their characters have flaws and thus seem more human and closer to real life than reel life!

Even today, when my dad and sister sit and watch CID, I sit with them just to pass time by finding loopholes in the plot, pass comments on the acting or just to see how funny these guys look every time they enter empty houses with guns, all ready to be fired, held at shoulder level! My dad tries doing the same with me while watching Castle but within five minutes he gets so engrossed in the show, he forgets all about irritating me!


It's time CID ended and the Indian masses were given a more decent, modern and watchable crime thriller to watch on Friday and Saturday nights!
Till then, at least I have Castle!

The Indian fixation with film stars!

A few days ago I was at some eatery, waiting for my parcel to be packed, when I overheard a conversation the staff was having. They were talking about a film stars' oncoming visit to Calcutta. This is how it went :

" Shahrukh will be coming to Calcutta!"
"Maybe Salman too," piped in the other.
"Both won't come together. Don't you know they're enemies? Salman and Sanjay (Dutt) are friends.Haven't you seen them hosting?, he explained, referring to Salman and Sanjay's stint together as Bigg Boss hosts.
The other nodded his head knowingly, agreeing to the speculations!

Shocked, smiling to myself, I collected my parcel and went my way with a new realisation. At least the efforts of the paparazzi to spread fantasy stories and rumours of Bollywood don't go waste! Someone, somewhere believes it all!

***

While I was walking today I saw two young boys, dressed in school uniform and bags on shoulder, staring at the posters of a new release 'Desi Boyz'. As I walked past them, I heard them comparing the two posters and declaring which one is John Abraham and which Akshay Kumar. I simply absorbed what I'd just heard and kept walking ahead. Only I know how difficult it was for me to resist turning around to take a picture! ;)

Ever come across such incidents?

Heart-breaking or heart-warming?

As I sit back and go over the shocking proceedings of the day, a thought crosses my mind... Does the Anna Hazare movement and the Government's reaction to it, create a heart-breaking scene or a heart-warming one?

Any person who's following the movement will definitely have an opinion!

It saddens one to see the Government, whom we had elected, misuse their powers greatly. All laws and promises of being democratic were defied when Anna was arrested from his home at eight in the morning! Little had the Government thought that India would react in such a manner! Protests and courting arrests became the way of the day. As the day progressed, our 'honourable' ministers started coming forward to say that Anna and the Government are both against corruption and that they are willing to talk to Team Anna! Mind you, all through the day, not one quote from the Prime Minister! One of the ministers even dared to say that peaceful protests  are allowed. If only he could give one instance where the Anna - led movement had turned violent! Had they even allowed the movement to start?

As the day nears its ending, things turn worse for the UPA! The police is ready to release Anna and his team as well as supporters. Even though it's too early to tell, but the Government seems to be buckling under pressure, pressure from the 1.2 billion citizens!

What will follow only time can tell, but at present seeing India unite and rise, does light a ray of hope in our bleak future!