A differently flavored barfi!

Watching barfi! was a pleasure, simply on account  of the intensity of emotions ad expressions of the lead actors. Who says love needs words to be expressed when the deaf and dumb Murphy can do that with such an ease. The movie had the hilarity that make even the saddest moments light. Heartbreaks were never emphasized but hope was. Innocence lay even in the attempts to rob a bank or kidnap a friend. And an equal role was given to the landscape, the animals and buildings. The secret lies in the details and the details were beautiful.

But above all, the movie reminded me of my childhood when I used to watch Charlie Chaplin and laurel and hardy. It had the same kind of dark humor, the same intensity, the same effect of making you think beyond. It showed what is the purity of heart and that of love without being overbearing. It showed that love can never be selfish.

A different kind of plot, superb acting and amazing direction, gives barfi a pure, unadulterated and unique flavor.

Acid attack for wearing jeans!!!

Posters in Ranchi say that jeans are banned for girls and that any girl wearing jeans or going out without a dupatta will be attacked with acid. Self appointed guardians of society are willing to hurt a woman in any form just to show their supremacy. And this is after the Supreme Court has asked government to take serious note of the issue of acid attacks. Police says that it could be a case of mischief. But this is an issue that should be taken seriously.
Imagine living in a world where you cannot move out wearing what you desire. A world where personal liberty is curtailed in the name of moral policing. Is this the world that we created for our children, a world where being a woman means that you have no respect, no choice?
Maybe women should also start carrying acid wwith them and throw it on any man who misbehaves with them. Maybe women should join together and beat the husband who comes home drunk.
Why can't these people grow up and understand that clothes are not the culprit. It is the intention of the man who looks at a woman that matters.

The victim is at fault

So the minister says that the girl was dressed up provocatively, that’s why she was molested. And so the girls burn jeans and shirts because western clothes attract molester. And so the blame is always on the victim. You are raped because your dress was short, you are robbed because you carried purse.

I really want to know are women in saree and salwar suits not raped? Or was that 80 year old woman wearing revealing clothes when a 22 year old boy raped her? And what about the grandmother who was raped by her own grandson?

Maybe I should go down to the ancient India and ask how was Sita dressed when she was abducted and how was Draupadi dressed when she was humiliated in public? It is not the dress, it is the mindset. It is the male dominant society. It is the mentality that I am the man, I am powerful, I can do anything. It is not the fault of the victim, it is the attacker. And it is high time that it is imprinted on the minds of all men that you are at fault. You are scared of a free thinking woman. And you should accept her as your equal. And if western clothes are at fault, then why is it that every woman in west is not molested? Stop blaming the clothes, check your own character. That is your permanent attire.

When love’s gone, no need to maintain

I read an interesting article on men quitting their high paying jobs or having their families disown them on papers to avoid paying maintenance to their ex wives and children. It seems an irony that the woman who spent her entire married life making their houses homes is left without anything to support her once the husband’s interest has dwindled. But then, there is another side to the story. Do women who had made their husband’s lives miserable have a right to his hard earned money? And especially when their claim is so high that it will continue to make the husband’s life miserable if he pays it. Well divorce can get ugly and fight for alimony uglier. It is bad enough to wash your linen in public. But still, children do have a right on their father’s earnings. There is no reason why children should suffer if their parents have stopped loving each other. What is required is that the courts should see through the claims of maintenance and as well as the antics played by the husband to avoid them. Maintenance should be to maintain those who are unable themselves and not as a punishment to those who work hard and earn. Genuine cases should not be ignored because some have taken unfair advantages. Marriages are founded on love and understanding, and when that is gone no amount of maintenance can suffice.

Stumped

I faced a really bad interview, maybe as bad as my viva the day my mother fell mortally sick. It is a depressing feeling when you are unable to express what you knew so well, things that you could have easily described but were unable to do. And it happened because of things I never thought can be asked, things too mundane in the present society, things I didn’t feel were worth going over again after a gap of 4 years.

It’s a time when I am stumbling and falling. I hope to rise up and walk again, to run and to fly but right now I am going through a reverse mode. I have a desire to do something but presently I am standing empty handed.

Maybe it is time to wipe my slate clean and make a fresh start. It is time to get up and go. It is time to strive for the best. And time to use every failure as a stepping stone.

Bad mocktail!

Well, I watched cocktail and yes, it is a bad one for that. I have no idea when will Indian filmmaker learn that clothes don’t define character and the so called bad girls are also marriage material. Girls who don’t dress up in salwar suits are also good at heart. Poor, little, rich Veronicas loose the guy that simple looking Meeras bag. And so, while a fashionable girl gets to be the live in partner, it is her best friend who gets introduced to mamma. After all, the lecherous, mamma’s boy will marry the straight, simple girl. And above all, it comes down to two educated, independent girls fighting for a gigolo! And all the love and friendship and sacrifice funda. Oh come on, babes, we don’t need this second hand kahaani……..

No woman’s land

India, the land of goddesses, has become a place where women are treated worse than animals. In Assam, one teenager is publicly molested by mob, another by army men, while their MLA is beaten up by mob. In Maharashtra, a school girl is made to drink her urine for bedwetting and a model is beaten up by mob. In Karnataka, a dentist husband makes his wife drink his urine while torturing her for dowry. In Uttar Pradesh, while the village panchayat orders that women below cannot go outdoors, cannot have mobile phones, policemen rape women. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, just some of the reported cases. Instances of harassment of women are increasing day by day. With rising cases of female feticide and infanticide and abandoned and battered babies, acid attacks, molestations, dowry deaths, honor killings, it is difficult to say if girls of any age are safe here. Girls are molested by strangers and their own kin alike. From before her birth till after her death, a girl is never safe.