Peepli Live - An Unjustified Thrive!

As with every Aamir Khan movie, the expectations very skyrocketing with "Peepli Live" too, though it wasn't featuring the mega-star himself but still his association with the movie itself is a big enough reason for everybody to go and have a taste of his creation. For me there was certainly one more reason to watch the movie and it was the setup around which the movie has been made, Farmer Suicide. This has always been an intriguing and disheartening chapter and hence to know about it through Aamir Khan's kaleidoscope was certainly a mouthwatering opportunity. And without doubt and expectedly the movie did quite well at the box office too and it recovered all its expenses even before its release, thanks to the marketing genius of Aamir Khan and naturally the reviews from the critics all around have been overwhelming too. Usually I watch all such releases on the very first weekend itself but due to some other commitments I have to wait for this one for its second week. So the curiosity to meet 'Nathha', 'Budhiya' and 'Ammaji' (all being the main protagonists of the flick) was at its zenith.

Now the issue on which this piece of art has been made is a very sensitive one. In the last 10-12 years over 2 lakh farmers across the country have committed suicide due to their inability to make a living out of farming, hence out of their misery, helplessness and failure to feed their families they are forced to take this horrendous step. The reasons of these suicides are manifold, ranging from failed monsoons, lack of finances to buy appropriate farming equipments, indebtedness through use of Bt Cotton, misuse of agricultural chemicals, lack of expert advise and guidance or negligence on the part of government authorities but the truth of the fact is, the end result of all this in the form of mass genocide is absolutely unacceptable and a complete failure on the government's part. Because if our country which has always been thriving on the agricultural and green revolution for its development,has to face such an epidemic, then it surely reflects the sorry state of affairs of the microlevel governance. And if somebody has taken an initiative to bring this problem at the forefront through the medium of cinema, then it is definitely worth all the praise.

But after watching this 110 minutes odd piece of art I was utterly disappointed, rather I was deeply hurt. Its perfectly acceptable that the makers of this movie tried to make a satire out of it, but did it actually turned out to be one? For many, rather for most it did, at least the box office numbers and the reviews suggest so but for me it didn't. For me it was a mockery of the entire issue considering that the core of this issue of Farmer Suicide is such a sorry and dreadful affair and the condition of those people who are actually forced to commit this heinous act and that of their family members is beyond imagination. Agreed, that people might be actually committing suicide or pretending to commit suicide in the lure of that Rs 1 Lakh catch, but the movie no where captured what leads those poor people to do so or what can be the remedial actions for it or what are the loopholes in our system which leads to such a misery which is still unsolved for past so many years. And honestly I went in to watch this movie with these expectations only. Some might argue that the movie has exceptional performances from its main protagonists i.e. 'Nathha', 'Budhiya' and 'Ammaji' , but was it really the case? Factually it was not. Because in the 110 minute long venture Natha had 5, may be 6, Budhiya had 8 and Ammaji had 5 dialogs in all, that's it! And people, rather critics are talking of classy acting based on these 5-6 dialogs; hilarious! Rather majority of the footage is dedicated to the media channels, no wonder what they showed about the TRP hungry media channels is absolutely correct but the makers could have dedicated an entire movie towards that comical and overtly dramatic set of events, hence mixing such a serious issue, which needed some really good treatment with those media gaffs is a total injustice with such a sorry state of affair.

Though these are my personal views and a majority might not agree with them but I am still wondering why is this movie such a heartthrob among masses. Probably because people connect very well with the acts involving 'M...', 'B...' or 'G...' abuses, as seeing and hearing all that with such ease they can find a part of themselves in such acts or may be people and critics are so spell bound and intimidated with the maestro Aamir Khan, that they don't have the guts to even think that anything coming out of his hat can be detested, criticized or denied. Whatever be it, I still feel such an important national issue needed a far better treatment than what it has got from its makers but at the end of it we live in the era of absolute freedom, hence the movie has been made and hence this writeup has been penned down:).

JAI HIND!

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Shaadi ke Right Effects!

Marriage is undoubtedly the most talked about, fancied, sought after, celebrated and preached upon event in India. Whatever be your caste, whatever be your customs and whatever be your ideologies you just can't escape being a part of this roller coaster extravaganza. Without doubt marriage is THE most important event for any human being who gets into this sacred bond irrespective if his nationality, color or creed as this phenomena totally gives a beautiful turn to ones life but it wont be farce to say that the amount of time, money and efforts an average Indian spends on a marriage well and truly exceeds the amount spent in getting an entire clan married in the west.Though the purists and the critics might term the Big Fat Indian Wedding a waste of time, money and resources but truth of the fact is we don't give a damn to all that supposed 'crap', we celebrate and ornate our weddings in our own grandeur way and cherish it for our entire lives.

Then what is the reason that I am blab erring so much on wedding and fancies related to that? No wonder, I have recently got married and I have my own share of experiences some of which were funny, some of them were sacred and some really scared me. But the overall package is actually a treat and a treasure to cherish for life. Those 7-8 days or so were really nothing short of a bollywood blockbuster. With around 90-100 relatives buzzing our home, 20 odd friends who have kindly travelled down from almost all parts of the country and innumerable local pals and close family friends really transformed the event into a festival of sorts. Every single thing that happened over that period was a dream and hasn't happened earlier. On the buildup to the big event when I was busy with preparations which majorly boiled down to shopping my attires for various functions, I was bewildered with the response of my mom. All her life she has screamed, scowled and cursed me for splurging excessive amount on buying 'branded' stuffs which for her never made any sense. So after receiving pertinent flack for buying a pair of jeans for 3000 bucks, t- shirt for 1200 bucks and a pair shoes for 4000 bucks, it was a pleasant but unimaginable surprise when she was the one who suggested me to buy those expensive 5 digit Sherwanis, Dhotis, Suits and Kurtas, I was literally dumbstruck thinking this to be serious prank played by her but she has never been a prankster so it was something else brewing up. Reluctantly I asked her ' is everything alright?', on which she immediately replied innocently that ' no no its ok, if you don't like these ones we can look at other ones too'. Then it struck me 'dude its your marriage, so take it easy these things will happen now' :) Though I was still not very keen to spend that huge amount in buying those overtly dramatic costumes which I doubt I will ever wear again in my life but the lure of getting clicked putting those fancy attires was way too high to decline the offer.

So when I was still trying to get in terms with the fact that I am the predecided man of the series of this tournament even before the start of the first match, surprises and shocks were unravelling themselves at a fast pace. Everybody around, be it my relatives, be it my friends or be it the domestic helps were so very keen to feed me up all the time that it virtually seemed they are being paid heavily by the government of India to stuff me up. Moment the meal got ready, irrespective of the time and irrespective of the fact that I have just consumed something really heavy, at least 5-6 people started pestering to have my meal, and the urgency and justification with which they forced me to do so seemed as if this is the last meal available for a long long time. And the moment I eventually start having my meal, almost everybody around left whatever they were doing and rushed up to feed me something or the other. So if the aunts pestered me to have some more 'chapaatis', cousin sisters forced me with some more 'curries' and 'dahi badas' but the worst were the grandma's who tried forcing their way with those 'high calorie sweets'. The ferocity with which everybody was hellbent in feeding me it almost seemed as if I am the lieutenant commander in a multi nation armed force operation and I have to rush to take my position in the siachin glacier. It seemed a bit irritating that time but after giving it a serious though I realised it's not the time to get irritated rather these are the moments to cherish and enjoy as I will never ever be subjected to such hospitality again;).

Also all my life I very well knew the fact that I am not the most good looking guy around and my closest friends were the ones who time and again made me realise this fact through their worst possible taunts and remarks. So on the contrary when all those guys along with everybody around were going gaga over my looks and appearance on whatever I dressed up in, it all seemed to be more of sarcasm than the real praise. And all that was also a part of being on the groom's seat and hence naturally those high dose of attention and accolades but trust me it was real fun hearing all that from the guys who would have found it really difficult to mutter all that;).

So amidst all these intriguingly interesting moments which were all probably the first and last hand experiences for me;) there were also some really awkward ones too. Especially the one in which I had to be on the stage, endlessly smiling for more than 3 hours, getting clicked with each of the well wishers and making each of them realize that I am genuinely happy by their presence. Gosh! Can there be anything more difficult than this? I doubt! But now I can understand how the great Sir Sachin Tendulkar might be feeling collecting all those awards and prizes on various stages for last 20-22 years, getting clicked with millions of people, genuinely smiling with each of them, I bet its much tougher than scoring those 100 odd centuries. Anyways, if this wasn't all, there was more to come, bending down at least 200 times to touch the feet of all the elders around garnering their blessings after the main rites were over, though it might have easily shed at least 5kgs of my weight(so no grievances against all those people who were hell bent in feeding me to limits:) ).But amidst all the fan fare those intense rites and rituals actually sent a sense of responsibility down the spine and the feeling of being a part of that atmosphere was absolutely pious. That is one feeling one can understand and acknowledge only if he/she has been a part of it. The alien concepts of being a responsible husband, taking care of not only my own parents but also my partner's parents and always exercising the traits of love,compassion and loyalty were far too clear than they have ever been. In fact what the preachings of last 20 odd years could not do, those mantras and rituals did in 100 odd minutes, no wonder we have such high regards for our customs and beliefs.

So all in all on a lighter vein if somebody has never felt good about himself, has more often than not been subjected to pranks and puns of his friends and is still longing for some really royal treatment than certainly its time for him to get married. Though no guarantees about the same treatment post marriage but the attention, hospitality and high degree of accolades one receives in the process is unmatched, unforgettable and most definitely once in a life time experience. Howsoever artificial, forced and made up all that might be but for me it was all truly memorable and overwhelming:)

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Common Wealth Games or Games with Common Man's Wealth?

When the capital of our country has been bestowed with the opportunity of organizing a global event of the stature of Common Wealth Games whose magnitude can be easily ascertained by the sheer fact that athletes from over 72 nations will be taking part in 266 events across 17 disciplines over an action packed period of 12 days, ideally this mega event should create an atmosphere no lesser than what the FIFA World Cup did for the rainbow nation of South Africa but ironically things are no way near those high decibel levels. Thanks to the horrible state of preparations and highly corrupt governance of finances involved in the organizing of this event, there are no Vuvuzelas roaring in India to celebrate this global event. Infact not many of us are even thinking about the games at all, rather we are more bogged down by the controversies surrounding the organizing of the Games.But why such a sordid state? Why we are not talking about the Games and the prospective atheletes who can bring medals and in turn some glory to our nation?

Reasons are many and they are all depressing. Despite the fact that the games were allotted to India in the year 2003, giving our authorities a time frame of over 7 years to get prepared for the big stage, not much happened on the ground till 2006. Though the international guidelines stipulated that all CWG projects should be complete by May 2009, with last year being kept aside for trial runs, our organizing committee is no where near the international standards rather they have are busy in revising the deadlines or the project completion date all the time. And with no more than 50 days left for the opening ceremony, the abysmal state of preparedness is shocking. Most sporting venues including the Jawaharlal Nehru track & field stadium and swimming complex won't be complete before the Aug 10 extended deadline. At the table tennis facility the false ceiling has collapsed, at the weightlifting arena the vinyl flooring is already peeling, there are also reports of seepage at the boxing stadium, the swimming pool for the main event got flooded last week, and not even one third of the total flats for accommodating the international contingents are complete. If these facts on the state of infrastructure ill preparedness seem to be outrageous than the ones regarding financial irregularities are even more shocking and disgraceful.

A mammoth Rs 30,000 crore has already been spent on various infrastructure and development projects related to the CWG, though its a different matter that Rs 30,000 crores to achieve such a dismal state of infrastructure is an utter mockery of the tax payer's money. But if ordinary chairs worth Rs 500/- are being 'hired' for Rs 8500/-, 100 liter refrigerators which cost around Rs 4000/- and can store no more than 5 bottles of water are being hired for Rs 42,000 a piece, a single roll of toilet tissues whose worth is not more than Rs 100/- are being brazenly projected to be bought at Rs 4500/-, treadmills are being hired for over Rs 9.75 lakhs which is several times higher than the buying cost of the most efficient and suave treadmill available globally and when a gigantic sum of Rs 4500 crores has been spent on renovating various stadiums whose present condition is a fact of public knowledge now, heads are bound to turn and common man is sure to feel dejected, sad and furious. And when common sense defying contracts are being awarded to parties who have no idea about managing things, scenes are bound to be this dramatic and tragic. So giving these huge financial irregularities the names of scam and corruption is an understatement because in true sense it's nothing short of a large scale public robbery.

But what is staggering is the fact that why are people of the stature of Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi not speaking at all on this royal mess. They never let a chance go by when it came to speaking volumes on the corruption charges against Mayawati and Madhu Koda or leave that apart they sacked their own minister Mr. Shashi Tharoor who was not even proved guilty but had to step down for mere allegations from the opposition. So when the government backed organizing committee has well and truly eaten up a huge amount of public money by the name of common wealth games why are these bigwigs so dumb and numb. Is it the age old politics of remaining silent and letting the storm pass by or is it a clear cut case of everybody having there own share from this huge pie? Whatever be it by doing so they are doing no good to the reputation of our nation because when we are hosting an event of this global stature we are not only supposed to treat our guests with utmost care and respect but we should also be concerned about the pride involved in the entire process. By practice every new event, activity or version is much better than its previous edition, be it Olympics, be it Soccer World cup or be it Common Wealth Games and the same happened with the recent FIFA world cup in South Africa too which was a masterpiece event and ditto with the last edition of Olympics in Beijing. Infact the standards of excellence and quality in Beijing were so high that it will be a herculean task for the next organizers to match their predecessors. Certainly nobody is expecting us to set new standards of quality and excellence through the Common Wealth Games but we should be at least respectable in all the setups and arrangements. Though at this point that seems to be a distant reality because by the look of it the organizers seem to be more keen in robbing theCommon Man's Wealth rather than focusing on the success of Common Wealth Games.

So in this murky scenario of financial irregularities, collapsing ceilings and flooded stadiums what can a proud but dejected Indian do? The only possible thing he can probably think of doing is to earnestly pray that this edition of Common Wealth Games ends out to be free of mishaps and accidents.

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