Views on 'India's Daughter' documentary

Just finished watching the BBC documentary ‘India’s Daughter’. Observations (and some opinions):

• Bold, powerful and thought provoking. Covers all angles that a documentary should - rapists/convicted, law makers, psychiatrists, members of the society and friends/family of those associated. 
• My understanding of why the Information & Broadcasting Ministry had a ban on Indian airing is because of the rapists brazen comments in reference to women, rape and criminal activities. Reason why it escalated is because there is no sense of remorse whatsoever which is disappointing, shocking and unnerving.
• Further problems added by the defence lawyers who in a way justify the act with their comments. While I would say that it is their job to say such things in order to keep the case alive as it is still undergoing after appeal. Their statements reek of disrespect towards women and highlight that they find men superior than women.
• It is worth noting that the police and/or the government tried their very best to prevent the movement and the agitation after the brutal rape. This raises questions of how independent we really are.
• Chance now for the new government - both at the centre and at the state - to make a change. If they really want to that is without this greed for votes blinding them.
• Lastly, as mentioned in the documentary, the solution isn’t just in the hanging of four or five rapists, or of amendments in Juvenile Justice Act, but in education. In women realising their self worth and men realising the importance of women from the get go.
• If by banning the documentary, the government wants to prevent itself from being shown in a bad light then it is time for a self reflection and understanding that there is a problem that needs fixing. Living in a problem and shutting things from happening is not the answer. Calling India a free democracy is a blatant lie. Calling Delhi safe for women is furthest from the truth. Calling a girl child equal to a male child is laughable.

Mumbai please vote this time!

Maharashtra goes for Assembly Elections on 13th October which would determine who governs the state post 22nd October when the results would be declared. Post 26/11 Mumbai has had the Lok Sabha elections to show their need of "change" but sadly a dismal turnout of 43% turnout reflected the indifference that existed in the Mumbaikars attitude.

Hopefully things improve this time around and people go out to vote this time. There is a one day bandh as well so you can't complain about work commitments. Spotted an image courtesy The Comic Project and Arun Raveen.

Sach Ka Saamna : Will it work?

Indian Television is set to copy another American show, its called 'Sach ka saamna' and would air tonight (15th July) at 10:30PM. Its a copy of the American TV show 'The Moment of Truth' which is actually not an original concept in itself. Its a copy of Colombian, Nada más que la verdad ("Nothing More than the Truth") which has been exported to 46 countries in total. But we're aware of the American version which aired some months back on Star World(Tuesday 9:30PM slot).

The concept of the show would be to answer a set of questions to win the jackpot of Rs.1 Crore. The contestant would have gone under a polygraph test prior to the actual airing to check his responses and the reaction of his blood pressure, pulse, respiration etc etc on the very same questions. If the answers match to the ones given before then the contestant stays on. If on the other hand, the answers do not match the contestant loses out and goes back home. Also he/she can go out by opting out before a question is asked.

What makes the game interesting is that the questions are very personal in nature.It could be about work or friends or relationship. On top of that, there are your near and dear ones sitting right opposite you to see what you answer. Its rumoured that a couple split after one episode in US where the lady(who was the contestant) made some very eye opening revelations about her past life and what she feels about her new husband.

As for the Indian version, the first few episodes would be attended by celebrities like Vinod Kambli, Urvashi Dholakia, Raja Chaudhry, Bobby Darling and Laxmi Narayan Tripathi.

Mileage has already been given to the show with news reports claiming Vinod Kambli made some very interesting and controversial revelations about his long time buddy, Sachin Tendulkar. Where he blasted the Little Master for leaving his side when his career wasn't going well and BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) for being racist in handling him since he's of a different cast and colour. However, since then Kambli and show's publicist have denied anything like this happening.

What I really want to see is if this concept would be a hit here in India?
I don't think it would be. I have three reasons for it.

1.Indian population wouldn't be happy to reveal so much in their personal life even if it is to win a huge amounts of money. We still have that thing in ourselves to keep our issues to us only and not let them out. Revealing it on TV would be a great big step which not many would want to take.

2.We have so many (idiotic) outfits in our country that some or the other would oppose the show for being against our "bhartiya sabhyata". The questions are too personal and am sure there would be one religious question and there would be a huge issue. (Hey, Some idiot filed an FIR against Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna when the latter opened her husband's fly in public. Good lord!)

3.The whole polygraph test in itself doesn't look foolproof to me. There are ways it can be beaten and what is the authenticity of it anyway? People react differently to different environments even if the question is the same. This holds true for all the polygraph tests though.

What do you guys think about the whole concept? Is the money greed getting too much where we are ready to compromise on our personal life and hurt our loved ones? If given the opportunity, would you go on the show? Comment away!

National anthem before a movie?

The first movie that I saw outside Delhi was Gupt in Jaipur.My favourite Hindi suspense movie although it was ruined by my brother because he told me who the killer is in the intermission because he happened to know it and wanted the suspense ruined for me too.(Yeah older siblings can be like that!) This was when I was very young,maybe when I was 10.

The second experience happened when I watched Taare Zameen Par in Mumbai. Me and Parinita went for the movie at Chitra. The tickets were cheap as it was the morning show(unlike Delhi,godamn ripoffs here!) and the seats were good and comfortable too.

The usual waiting for the movie to start was taking place when suddenly the national anthem started playing and everyone stood up.I was confused what was happening.There is no national anthem played here before a movie,heck the last time I heard the national anthem before me was in school! Not only was the national anthem playing something new for me but also the feeling of seeing everyone standing up was thrilling.Even the rowdiest of the lot were standing as a mark of respect.

Now I thought,it was just a small theaters thing and it won't happen everytime and not in a multiplex for sure.I was wrong.The national anthem played at PVR too when we went to see Madagascar 2.So it was playing in small and big theaters both and irrespective of the language of the movie.

Am not saying I didn't like it and think it was great.I just think is this the best form of showing respect to your nation,before a movie? I bet not even half of them would even watch the parade on the 26th of January or be up early for the flag hoisting on 15th August.So what is the purpose or the essence of having this national anthem before a movie?

Also,since I've not seen movies anywhere else so would love to hear if the national anthem is played before a movie in your town or no? Even if you're outside India,do you have your national song played before a movie?Would love to know :)

Stop Eve Teasing

I stumbled upon a page yesterday of an organisation called BLANK NOISE,which works for prevention of Sexual Harassment which is prevalent in our male dominated society.In the wake of the Afghan government legalizing 'Marital Rape' which allows the husband to rape his wife.This is highly derogatory for the females all over the world.This is how me,a male feels,just imagine how outraged the ladies would be.

Coming back to the Indian society.I don't think it would be very hard to think of a time if you've seen eve teasing taking place.Be it groping or just plain old stalking/staring/finger pointing.You could have been at the receiving end or you could have been a witness or you could have been the disgusting+filthy+pervert+a$$hole who actually did something as horrible as this.


This group/organisation aims at creating awareness about what to do in such situations.People can report any events of eve teasing and what they did about it or didn't do anything about it.Just when you think Eve-teasing is only physical,you'd be wrong.Its also the body language of the other person and many a times its verbal by passing lewd comments.

It doesn't depend if you're in a highly educated state like Kerela or a metropolis like Mumbai or a religious place like Varanasi,no place is devoid of such eve teasing and no one set of "mawali" people behind it but it can be beggar kids in the street making "fun" of the foreigners or your buildings watchman who watches you go up and come down every day or an educated person walking down the street.

The whole point of this post and the organisation is not to "let it go" which is the attitude in many such cases but to report the matter and the organisation homepage also explains how to lodge an FIR.

Remember this,not only is the victim to blame for not reporting or doing anything about Eve teasing but also the public for being just "spectators".

Do not let this continue.STOP EVE TEASING.DON'T BE A SPECTATOR.

Links :
Organisation Page

Pictures by Victims of Eve Teasing

Blank Noise on Facebook

Join the movement and spread the word.

Happy Holi : Not so much!

Just when you think the festivals bring together people and create peace and harmony,there comes along an event which shatters your belief and saddens you with the state of things in our country.Holi is the festival of colours and water and laughter for kids and adults both.

One person,however,didn't seem to enjoy these things.CNN IBN reports a fisherman in Shahdol,Madhya Pradesh shot at an 8year old little girl for an innocent act of spraying colour.The 8year old girl got injured at the time but now she's to be recovering.

The villagers beat up the fisherman before handing him over to the police.All this highlights the pathetic condition of the law in our country and how awful as human beings we've become to go to such low levels.I know some of you might say,"..we wouldn't do anything like that" but being a grown up haven't you been peeved at the kids for being so excited about Holi that they started throwing balloons even before Holi?Don't forget you were in that place some time back too.

SOURCE

WTF's: Boy married to dog and more..

From today onwards I would be starting a section on my blog entitled "WTF Section"(Yeah couldn't be easier than that!) where I would post some of the weirdest,most absurdest,most bizarre events that took place during the week but were secluded to the sides of the newspapers. This section would be updated every Sunday at noon(IST).

WTF NEWS

A little boy in Bhubhaneshwar,Orissa was married off to the neighbors' dog to prevent him from being killed by wild animals.

Now you might want to know why was he wedded off when he's underage?(let's try and ignore the fact that he's married off to a dog for now!)

The simple reason,he developed a tooth on his upper gum! The villagers apparently believe this is a bad omen and the tribal gods will bless the child and ward off any attacks by tigers and other animals in the future.

The local priest performed the marriage ritual at the temple by chanting Sanskrit hymns.The "marriage" was attended by around 150 tribals.

Although there are two positives from this WTF-ness,no dowry was exchanged and the boy can marry a human girl in the future without filing for divorce.

My questions are,Would the bitch file for monetary settlement in the future?
Can the bitch marry too without filing for divorce?

In the end,I would like to congratulate,Sagula(the groom) and Jyoti(the bride) and wish them a lifetime of happiness.

(Source : Reuters)

WTF PICTURE

You know those "Dummies guide to..." books that exist which range from technological topics to adoption to anger management.The topics sometimes seem a little weird to be having a whole book about.Don't get me wrong,they are wonderful books and work for everyone; from a newbie to a professional. Although they made a little error in their Instant messaging for dummies book. Check the image below.(Click image if it isn't clear)

Think there was something even more weird/absurd/bizarre than this?Was there something else which made you exclaim WTF!? Leave a comment.

FA Cup on Indian TV

FA Cup is the premier competition for all clubs in England,which means not only the elite ones like Chelsea,Manchester United,Liverpool get to participate but even the lesser known like West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers who have been giving the Premiership sides a run for their money with the number of trophies won.

India has been a progressive football loving nation in recent times with Cricket still leading the way.(..by far!)ESPN and Star Sports had been the big daddies in broadcasting English and Spanish Leagues and UEFA Champions League in India.

Newly borns,Ten Sports and Neo Sports were not to be outdone as they came up with Serie A(Italian League),Bundesliga(German League),French League,Scottish League.Ten Sports also got the rights to broadcast Champions League in the Indian sub-continent which has been a disaster for me as a viewer with awful coverage and disastrous commentary service.Along with that,Zee Sports isn't available on TATA Sky so the choice of watching either of the two football matches has been confined to just one match which majorly happens to be an English side which also confines the concept of "European" football.

The same scenario has happened with FA Cup now with the rights being taken over by Sony Pix.The channel premierly deals in movie content.FA Cup rights were earlier held by ESPN and Star Sports.What annoys me the most is why would a channel acquire the rights and not show any matches to earn their money back.Right now they have the prospect and chances of airing 3 consecutive football matches of FA Cup but they would be airing only 1,which isn't confirmed either.

So all you football fans in India of the oldest football competition in the world,its a no show until things improve!(read ESPN Star reacquiring the rights!)

Link which would come in handy : Sony Pix's FA Cup schedule

Mumbai "The Spirit stirred for once" : In pictures,videos and links

Mumbai burnt from 26th November till 28th November,2008.The burn marks remain,would they go ever go away for the hostages inside the Taj Hotel,Oberoi Hotel,Cama Hospital.For the taxi drivers in Ville Parle.For baby Moshe.For local train users at CST.For the martyr's families.And more generally,for every concerned human being who witnessed these shocker events unravel be it in person or through media,I don't think so.

• See more pictures on : The Big Picture

• See more pictures on : BBC Pictures

• See more pictures on : ArunShanBhag's blog (WARNING : Page takes long to load due to heavy pictures,but they are worth the wait)

• See more pictures on : Brisbane Times' page.

What would happen if attacks in Mumbai took place in US?


Yahoo Answers!


Dr.Melissa Clouthier's blog and her views

Articles :

• Indian Express' columnist Arun Shourie analyses How the ministers shouldn't be surprised about the attacks from the sea.

• NY Times',Thomas L. Friedman Calls All Pakistanisto show they care about lives lost too.

• Ecophilo sees how India and Pakistan have different paths although being born at almost the same time.

• FACT : Rs.250 crore are spent on VIP security every year.Why NSG cover for every VIP? TimesNow investigates.

• New York Think Tanks,Steve Coll mentions his time with the LeT(LeT is the terrorist outfit behind the Mumbai attacks)

Links

• India Unite blog

• Mumbai Terror Helpline - The hostage crisis may be over but the injured are still in hospital,they need your support.Check this blog for requirements as and when they arise.

• What's good about Mumbai attacks? - Kicking and screaming tries to find out.

• India's Peace Campaign - A campaign by the youth to make a change.Join it to give your support in anyway possible.

VIDEO: CNN's take on What India needs to do?

I would like to end on a positive and inspirational note.Watch this fabulous advertisement by Bharti/Airtel.


Bharti advertisement

Mumbai's tag of global city is hit

I am sure many of you would be aware of the vandalizing nature of MNS(Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena) chief,Raj Thakrey and his men and seen their acts of hurting North Indian's on the reason of protecting the "Marathi Manus".

Times of India had an article running today (Sunday Times,02 November,Delhi Edition) showing how what we earlier thought was limited to political games has actually hit the mindset of the local people too.These aforementioned article bears some startling incidents which would make any Indian bow his/her head in shame and question the country's "biggest democracy" stance which we somehow are very proud of.



Mumbai: ‘‘Loud discussions have given way to whispers... that’s what’s really scary,’’ is how a north Indian techie who has spent the better part of his life in Mumbai described the new mood in the city. The divisiveness, which began as a political tamasha a few weeks ago and spiralled into violence, has begun to slowly but steadily seep into the life of the ordinary Mumbaikar. Suddenly, the man on the street is defining himself as ‘native’ or an ‘outsider’.
Whether in offices, on trains, in market places and school compounds, a sense of anxiety has surfaced. Tension is especially palpable in stressful surroundings such as a jampacked train compartment. Susheel Sukhraj, an entertainment professional, wrote in to TOI to say he had witnessed several instances of young boys being cussed on trains as ‘bhaiyyas’ and cases when rank strangers banded to turn on a fellow traveller with, ‘‘You have dirtied our city.’’
Clarifying that he himself is a ‘‘Marathi from Panchgani’’, Sukhraj says that he is disturbed by the things he sees everyday while travelling from Navi Mumbai to Andheri. ‘‘At Mankhurd station, a north Indian boy standing at the door was deliberately hit on the head by someone in the surging crowd. The man then quickly disappeared inside the compartment but continued to pass snide remarks to provoke a fight,’’ says Sukhraj, recalling an incident that took place on Thursday morning.
Even middle-class north Indians are feeling the chill. Jaiprakash, an engineer with an IT firm in Andheri, says that north Indian employees at his workplace prefer to hang out together after work and ‘‘feel odd’’ about interacting with Marathis, lest something provocative be said.
But the real brunt continues to be borne by poor immigrants — cab drivers, watchmen, daily wage earners and odd-jobs men. ‘‘On Thursday night I found an autorickshaw driver weeping at Gokuldham in Goregaon. I asked him what was wrong and he said that his previous passenger, a Marathi man, had refused to pay and slapped him when he asked for the fare,’’ says a senior media correspondent. ‘‘Then, on Friday afternoon, a cabbie told me that a young man got into his taxi at Churchgate and said, ‘‘Girgaum chal, main batata hoon. When they reached Girgaum, the man simply walked away.’’
The fallout is best summed up by Kishan Rajak who moved to Mumbai a decade ago and started working with a laundry. When he saw pictures of a bus burning in Kalyan after Raj’s arrest, the 24-year-old simply said, ‘‘This place is not safe anymore,’’ and left for UP.

If the people involved in it are reading this then be very ashamed of what you did and if you think its the right thing to do then you're very wrong.


While researching I came across an interesting blog post too which I would like to share as well.
Marathi Manus Jaaga

Delhi vs Mumbai: Political Capital vs Financial Capital

VS

I apologise that I haven't written in 2months,so here I am with a well a cliched topic!

I know this topic has been discussed time and again and its like New York vs Washington,Men vs Women(cliched comparisons I mean) but I wanted to jump the bandwagon too as well I recently visited Mumbai and since am a Delhite,the comparisons just becomes well inevitable.

I won't be comparing based upon random things which other sites/blogs would but I would be making the comparison upon things that matter to ME!So you see how something that might matter to you,may/may not matter to me.In short,I decide what goes!

I would be putting down 5 positives of both the cities,so here we go!

Delhi(because home comes first!)

1.Food - I mean who cannot like Delhi food.There is street food,which includes Indian and Tibetan(Momos,big hit!) then there are restaurants which offer every cuisine a normal human being would want to eat.(Yes that rules out rats and other weird animals.TOO BAD!)

2.Space - There is ample space.Well compared to other big cities I've been to.And this by the way does not include parking spaces which is well a big problem but other than that there is good enough space to roam about and have parks and all.

3.Metro - Although the transport in general is a mess with over charging autos,buses not being comfortable but Metro is a great service.Although its getting messy now too but who cares! Public transport hai what do you expect!?

4.Infrastructure - Look at the roads,the flyovers,the toll bridges! You think you've reached some German city where there is no speed limit and you can zip pass the slow cars or well slow drivers too.(oldies need to learn to move faster than 40kmph!)

5.More brands - Well this doesn't matter much to me but hey compare the brands we have here to the ones in other big cities.And Delhi doesn't mean Delhi ONLY but NCR(national capital region) so we have looooadsa places to chill and shop.

Mumbai(probably the second home :p)

1.Law abiders - Yeah people here actually abide by the law and it doesn't matter if its day time or night time.Law is Law! I like it when people abide by the law,especially road rules like lane driving and respecting the road signs and if the sign says ONE WAY then it has to be ONE WAY and not change to two way that happens in Delhi.

2.Transport - Unlike the auto walah's in Delhi who just charge according to their whims and fancies,Mumbai auto walah's would take you according to the meter and so would the cabbies.Be it day,be it night.Meter is what decides the fare and there is no bickering over the charges too.As for the prime transport "The Local Train",its great but I would die to get inside it in one go,especially in rush hours and sometimes I think the rush hours don't end at all!

3.Respect for Women/Security - This is a very strong issue for me as I firmly believe that men in Delhi only think of women as show pieces and wouldn't let go of an opportunity to stare inside a girls' shirt! Although Mumbai men are no less who do the same but at least they don't turn to such heinous acts which men in Delhi are famous for.I would see girls in Mumbai move around without much tension at night but in Delhi moving around in the colony itself at night is a thing I've still not seen.

4.Babus - Government servants or Babus as they are called,do not work on a "bribe and work" policy which happens often here in Delhi.You can get the work done without bribing someone and the quickness would be the same if you had bribed too.So better to keep the money in your pocket!

5.Concerts - Yes! Mumbai hosts many concerts and many international artists come to Mumbai for a gig but seeing them in Delhi is a dream which still has to be fulfilled.Boo you Delhi Government with its lax arrangement and high entertainment tax!

So I leave it up to you to decide which city you like more(because I don't know which I like more!) and leave your comments.

Thanks for reading!