A Legend Named Amitabh Bachchan

I have often wondered who Amitabh Bachchan is? Is he an actor, son of one of the greatest poet Dr. Harivanshrai Bachchan, or a brand ambassador for UN. He still remains an enigma to me. I am sure everything that could have been written has already been written about him. This is just a small little tribute from a great fan of his.
So what is it that keeps him going? It is very easy to be in the limelight and command respect for some period of time, but to be humble after you have reached the pinnacle of success is really a commendable job. I am in awe of his personality and every time I see him speak I am just dumbstruck and am bowled over by his modesty. I have never got an opportunity to see or meet him in person. I think even if I get that chance I would juggle for words and my mouth would go dry.
I remember my childhood days when there used to be a TV program on film music (Chitrahar) which was aired once a week on Wednesdays and then later after a few years, twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays. People used to eagerly wait for those 30 minutes of musical extravaganza unlike now where you have same music playing in all the channels.
I literally used to pray to god that there should be at least one Amitabh song and if by chance my wish was granted, I would pay my obeisance in front of god. In fact my relatives and friends used to make fun of me for doing all this (about which they still mention). With age as I matured I stopped doing all that childish stuff but the respect for him and stature of him in my eyes just kept growing.
He carries himself so well, never says anything bad about anyone. He is always praise for everyone. Command over his language Hindi or English is just amazing. We rarely ever get to see such demeanor in the glamor world. As a true great fan I have enjoyed and appreciated his great acting and also criticized him for his bad ones. For me Amitabh Bachchan is not only a great actor but a great human being. There are, have been and will be great actors even greater than Amitabh Bachchan but there will be one and only one Amitabh Bachchan.

paise ka aakarshan

paisa bhi kaisa chumbak hai sabko apni aor aakarshit karta
chota bada gareeb ameer sab ko apne aagosh mein bharta
barabari ka hai ye ek behtareen zariya
jitna ho jiske paas utna hi badhiya

aisi trishna jo kabhi na bhujhe
jiski bujhe uski antim shayya saje
aisa akarshan ki manushya lagaye nirantar iske chakkar
na hota ye suraj to manushya rehta mrit, jeevit reh kar

hai ye atoot bandhan, chahe ek tarfa hi sahi
hai sachcha pyar yehi jisme dhokha hi nahi
jitna zyaada jiske paas utna hi use aur mile
utna hi wo aur phale uski bagiya aur khile

iski bhashaa har jagah smaan
amrika,britan ya hindustan
bhin bhin vastron mein dikhti
apne aakar se sabko lubhati

phat jaaye to jod ke chale
bheeg jaye phir bhi na gale
jhuriyon se bhi na umr dhale
kisi ko bhi na kabhi ye khale

janm se mrityu tak hai jiski zaroorat
ho jiske paas lage wohi khoobsoorat
hai ye manushya ki hi paidaish
par hai kaise nahi iski koi khwahish

Not just cricket

Yes, it was exactly what the title suggests "Not just cricket". There is this program called "Not just cricket". The hosts were Maninee Mishra and I donot remember the male anchor's name and the panel members were Mohinder Amarnath and Ajay Jadeja & a person immitating Navjot Singh Sidhu.
I think I watched the program for 30 mins or so and they were discussing about the Eurasia cup finals cricket match between India A - Pak A. The whole time it was the male anchor asking all the questions (ofcourse many a times such discussion just talks about the same issues again and again but that is besides the point) not once did I see Maninee Mishra ask a question and moreover I thought she was wearing something "inappropriate" if I might say so. Mandira Bedi was criticized by the media in the past for a similar portrayal. Not that I am personally offended or anything. Why do we need two people to sit there, when one of them just sits quietly not asking or saying anything. Do we really need a glamour content in everything we do. I can still understand had she asked any questions, but this clearly seemed to me that she was there just sitting like a doll just for the glamour content of the show.
Talking about the other person who dressed like Sidhu and tried to immitate and basically make fun of Sidhu, I thought that was also uncalled for. I can understand these things if it is a comedy show or something. But when you call players who have played at the international level and are discussing about cricket why on earth do we want to make it all look funny. One time atleast, when this guy tried to immitate Sidhu the camera had a close shot and it focussed on Mohinder Amarnath's expression and it clearly showed that it was cheap or he was not interested.
I seriously think, where we are heading towards regarding the quality of programs that we produce and show on our TVs. In the garb of openness and freedom of expression we have deteriorated from bad to worse. I think the sanity would prevail and we would be able to produce good quality programs.

Democracy, Meritocracy or Selective Democracy

India has always been democratic from time immemorial. It is not surprising that our leaders of independent India chose this path and till this date have not deviated from it except for a very small time period during the emergency. I completely agree that the way our democracy functions is not perfect. But it is definitely more desirable than other despotic governments where everyone's freedom is curtailed. But is democracy the right thing in every aspect of life.

I am specially interested in discussing about people playing a major role in selecting someone in art or music talent competition. Is it fair to ask people to judge in the field of arts and music? Are people really equipped to make such decisions? I agree that ultimately it is the public that is going to listen to the songs by the one they choose so why not give them the opportunity to choose their singer. There are technicalities and nuances in music which not everyone understands. I can understand when the contest is very tight the audience vote could go either ways. But when one participant sings far better than the other, then one has to be tone deaf to vote that person out. Moreover one is not restricted to vote just once for a contestant. It is very subjective, I agree, about what one likes or dislikes. Elimination should be a gradual process in any competition. My sentiments were actually reflected in one of the episodes of Indian Idol competition when judges walked out because a good singer was voted out compared to the other singer and said that they had controlled themselves for very long but this was the limit.

We know what type of MP/MLAs get elected to the parliament and keep getting elected time and again. Illiterate and poor have been exploited for years in India for different reasons. Can people really make any informed decisions given that there is lack of basic awareness? While I am writing I have mixed feelings about it. I have been following this competition for quite sometime now and episode after episode I notice that good participants get out before the not so good ones. Why does this happen, even after regular pleading by the judges. People more often than not vote by their emotions. Also many a times it tends to be sympathy votes.

Should it go like this? If it does, then there is a very high probability that all good singers will be voted out and what will be left, would be a mediocre singer. One can say that if that is what has been chosen by the Indian public then so be it. People are the ones who are going to listen/see that singer if the singer ever gets any chance. So through this churning process one day we can hope to get some good singers till that time we can only hope. If people in our country really have the ability to decide and judge then I wonder why we still do not have jury system in our courts.

Agar main panchchi hota

Agar main panchchi hota
udta main unmukt gagan mein
kabhi is daal kabhi us daal par
kuch aisa banjara hota
agar main panchchi hota

kar pata bhraman duniyan ka
bin chinta passport ya visa
na hota ek desh ka wasi
na bandhan kisi jaat ka hota
agar main panchchi hota

leta har mausam ka anand
greeshma ritu ya ho sharad
khoob maza aata baarish ka
jab sar par na chhata hota
agar main panchchi hota

karta roz swagat savere ka
shafaq milaati haath mere se
pawan bhi mujhse baatein karti
sangeet ka bhi gyata hota
agar main panchchi hota

duniyan mein soundarya failata
kitni kaliyon ko main choomta
kitne pholon ka ras peeta
aur unhe bikhraana hota
agar main panchchi hota

ho sakta hai shobha badhata
bade bade ghar walon ki
karte methi baat mere se
jo band kisi pinjre mein hota
agar main panchchi hota

na hoti koi ichchayen
na ummeeden koi hotin
koi dukh na mujhe satata
aisa hi koi sant main hota
agar main panchchi hota

kabhi savari gadhe ki karta
kabhi mein hota taj singh ka
kabhi kisi ki khaaj khujaata
jangal mein mangal hi hota
agar main panchchi hota

hota bas afsos yehi ki
nahi samajh pata duniyan ko
na aata mein kaam kisi ke
aur na gyan kisi ka hota
agar main panchchi hota

haan mein manushya hoon
matlabi hoon khudgarz bhi
hoon apni hi soch mein gumsum
soch mein main na kisi ki hota
agar main panchchi hota

hokar manushya bhi kya paya
logon ke phir bhi kaam na aaya
aur kiya dooshit is jag ko
paison ka lalach na hota
agar main panchchi hota

Einstein

Jitni karoon koshish ise samjhne ki utni hi zyaada ulajhti jaati hai

Us bartan ki tarah jisme se jitna nikalo utni hi phir bhar aati hai

Kya samay sabke liye samaan hai ki judwa bhai hamesha rahen hum umr

Ya rahe jawaan wo, jiski umr kirnon ki gati se safar karke aati hai

Kiranon ki nadiyan behti hain ya ki kanche hain ye bachchon ke

Hai kitni adbhut ye kirnen ki hamen dono hi roopon se rijhaati hai

Hotin ye gar kisi ek tarah ki to na jaane jeevan kaisa hota

Na hota savera jaisa hai, aur na hoti jaisi unnati hai

Gar hota aasaan ek sansaar se jaana doosre sansaar mein

To uthate lutf us sangeet ka jo wahan ki koyal gaati hai

Rahega naam sada jeevit “einstein” tera in sabhi sansaaron mein

Hogi tulna un logon mein gaatha jinki sunahare aksharon mein likhi jaati hai

Indian cricket team struggles with the opening slot

Indian cricket has never been able to get a good solid opening pair(atleast in test matches). This issue was again in the discussions during this Indo-Pak series. Dravid opened with Sehwag in the test matches and did really well in the first two test matches both of which ended in draws. In the decider, opening pair didnot do well and India lost the game.
Everyone keeps saying that Dravid is too precious to be risked as an opener. He should be saved for the later part or the middle order. Same people say that many times Dravid was as good as an opener because he would come in early in the match to bat because the opening pair didnot last long. So if that is the case then what is wrong if Dravid opens for India in Test matches. Its a different thing if he doesnot want to open.
I fail to understand why is it that we cannot have same openers for ODIs and test matches. If Tendulkar can open in ODIs then why not in test matches. Tendulkar and Dravid are the best batsmen in the Indian squad at the present moment and I just do not see the logic of protecting them from facing the new ball. In fact in my opinion they are the best equipped players to face the new ball. If at all we want to have different players as openers in ODIs and test cricket then we have to get some good players like the australians and groom them well.
Everytime this issue comes up we hear talks about specialist openers. Our selectors come up with "specialists" like Shiv Sundar Das, Deep Dasgupta , Akash Chopra, Sanjay Bangar to name a few, who are nowhere to be seen now in the India team. It seems ridiculous that we call players, directly out of ranji matches as specialist openers for international test matches who cannot even last couple of years.
I hope sanity prevails and we get some real good and solid players who can open for the Indian team and can last atleast for few years.

Unfair treatment for Sourav Ganguly

Treatment meted out to Ganguly is not fair. Agreed that we should promote and groom young talent especially when the world cup is just around the corner. But the way the whole situation was handled was amaeturish. It seems like a conspiracy against the former captain. Raj Singh Dungarpur before the start of Pakistan series talks to a news channel about how having Ganguly in the team has a negative effect on the players and immediately denies it later. How can such a senior member of the board say such things especially when the player is in team for the series. Shouldn't people show some respect towards the players?
I myself am of the opinion that one should never take his place in the team for granted and should be in the team by sheer performance but at the same time the past performace should not and cannot be ignored. Player of 300 odd matches cannot and shouldnot be judged by his few failures. I have been a very fierce critic of Ganguly when it was reported during his initial days of captaincy that he doesnot show up for the nets. I feel that no one is above the team (including the captain). If you are in a sport you have to be disciplined there are no two ways to it. There should definitly be disciplinary action against the player who does not abide by the rules, but humiliation should be a no-no. Ganguly had a lean patch no doubt, but who doesnot have one. I think stripping him of his captaincy is punishment enough for his non-performace in a few matches.
Ganguly is the same player who was talked about as the leader that India long waited for. He took India to the finals of 2003 world cup. Everyone praised his attitude on the field and off the field. He backed lots of new comers like Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd. Kaif to name a few and showed lot of faith in them.
I am having a hard time understanding as to what is it that made Ganguly a villain from a saviour. I think he deserves to be given a fair chance to prove his abilities on the ground before he is shown the door.
He was taken for the test series with Pakistan but was not given a chance to bat (even when India knew that it is a batting wicket) and then without any reason was axed from the ODI team. He could have opened the batting instead of Dravid and could have got some runs against his name. Player of his caliber should not be humiliated atleast when it is not clear what is wrong on Ganguly's part. Everyone salutes the rising sun no doubt, but we should also give a warm farewell to the setting sun.

Whose universe is it anyway?

Should we act responsibly? Do we have any duty towards our society? Or should we act responsibly only when pushed to the extremes? I would like to discuss this issue in the context of growing problem of environmental pollution and conservation of energy. Should one always act in the best interest of oneself or should one act ethically. It is clearly an issue of tragedy of the commons where one person benefits by defecting, given others donot. If everyone defects, in our case, starts polluting the environment beyond what the environment can handle, then we all are at a disadvantage. It is in the collective interest of the society to conserve energy and reduce all types of pollution.

I completely agree that we cannot go back to the pre-historic ages. But we certainly can do our bit which will keep the environment liveable for a longer period of time. It is not that it is difficult to cut down on our daily consumption of energy or to alter some of our day to day habits. I think it is just a question of attitude. We just donot want to think about such things as cutting down on plastic bags, using a hand kerchief instead of a paper, turning off the lights that are not required etc. We just want to be in our own shell and turn a blind eye towards these small issue which could result in big change.

To tackle the electricity shortage problem, in India, authorities have already asked everyone to reduce their electricity consumption or else they are thinking of disconnecting cable television late night and also cutting on the late night movie shows at the theaters. This might be a little authoritative not necessarily the best way, but just an indication of the seriousness.

What does it take to print/copy on both sides of a paper(left to me I would print 4 pages on 2 sides given it is legible) ? Not even 1 extra second. But no one seems to care about it, thinking (probably not thinking at all) that how is it going to make any difference to anything. Would people stop polluting and start conserving energy when government levies a high tax on the usage?

Pollution generated in US can affect people in Bangladesh. Every year we hear about floods in Bangladesh and poor villagers getting affected, this is because of the overall increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Since no one person or country can be singled out for such calamities we just go about our "normal and routine" day to day activities. Developed countries should set an example for the rest of the world to follow. I just hope that people would start becoming more thoughful and own up the responsibility.

Serial Killer

Look at the type of programs we have these days in TV. I have never been interested in any kind of soap operas ever, which have now hijacked our TV channels for the last may be 8 years or so. Gone are the days when we used to have some innocent(e.g "Nukkad") and meaningful("Kirdaar","Mirza Ghalib") serials. Even the so called soap operas of those days like "Hum log", "Buniyaad" were well made and had some values and were not eternally long like "Junoon" or "Kyonki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi" and there were no last minute additions for things like valentine's day etc. It clearly shows that people don't have a script or even an idea where the story should head. It seems it is just on the spur of the moment that the director decides what is it that he/she wants to show in the next episode. We used to have just two channels 15 years back but we I think had some quality programs.

Now every channel seems to be churning out similar kind of serials whether it is "Kyonki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi" or "Jassi Jaisi koi nahi" or "Kkusum". I am in no way saying that we should go back to those old days, infact we should change with times and should try and learn from our mistakes and should come up with new stories and issues to talk about. I would rather say we should become technically more sound in making T.V serials or even movies. These days it seems it is just a question of money all the way. Person having more money wins. Everything now depends on the TRP ratings and the glamour content. Every thing on T.V now caters to the urban market.

Isn't it the duty of the regulator(Prasar Bharti ) and the country as a whole to offer programs which are entertaining/thought provoking. At the same time it should not become autocratic. We as a nation would have to grow in our thinking. Crap begets crap or as they say in a techy language garbage in garbage out. Please don't mistake me that I am against entertainment programs. I am very much for different kinds of programs but my only concern is the quality.

It seems like a blind race amongst different channels. One wants to out do the other. I am not ready to agree that we have shortage of good thinkers in India then why is it that we are not able to come up with good stories. Should everything boil down to money? We should be driven by quality and not quantity. People can make money by making good entertainers or issue based programs also. People do like to watch good movies if they are made and also appreciate them. We should increase our bars for quality not choose best of the worst.

For not having good programs, should we criticize people who make it or who see it? Should people stop watching such programs like a mass boycott so that people making it have no incentive to produce them anymore? So if that is the case then it is clear that people have not yet shunned such programs and that they have the right to watch what they think is good, like a true democracy. In that case I should not even be writing about it. But this is just my opinion......

my indulgence into poetry

Sawaal

Ek kavita likhne ki hai tamanna aaj

Isi soch ki jwala mein hai jalna aaj



Karna kya hai zindagi mein nahi kuch bhi padta maloom

Kiye jaayen jo karte hain, ya ki chalan apne kadmon ka hai badalna aaj



Aisa kyon hai ki har subha liye khadi hai ek sawaal mere saamne

Pherloon muh in sawaalon se, ya inhi ke bhanwar mein hai utarna aaj



Sawaalon ke is van se lagta hai milegi ek raah nayi

Us sunahare sawere ki chahat mein, is andhere ko hai nigalna aaj

**********************************************************************



Ek ajab si khushi

Ek ajab si khushi hui mehsoos mere dil mein

Aaya nazar mujhe ek dost, mere katil mein



Jab likhe insaan taqdeer apne haathon se

Tab rank bhi hota hai raja apni mehfil mein



Dole nayya kitni hi beech majhdhaar mein

Doobti nahi kabhi bhi kashti sahil mein



Agar hota hai ghayal insaan nazron ke teer se

Jaal kya hai aisa phir hothon ke til mein

***************************************************************


Lahron ke saath bahe to kya kiya ?

Sirf Phoolon se khele to kya kiya ?



Is bhari duniyan mein lekar janm

Bas apne hi liye jiye to kya kiya ?



Chalte rahe rahi bane har rah par

Na rah koi banayi nai to kya kiya ?

kitni hi mushkilein aaye rahon mein 
Hosla gar khoya to kya kiya ?