It seems the nation again has the misfortune of experiencing the “sacrifice” of the much revered Soniaji. First she “sacrificed” the seat of PM, and now she has “sacrificed” by resigning from the post of MP. Good way to make an ass of a nation.
Incidentally, in both the cases she had no other choice. As it is said, it is easier to be valiant when the ship is sinking. She was anyway not going to qualify for the seat of PM, and the removal of Jaya Bachchan boomeranged this time. She is good at playing the victim though, and our country just loves hapless, helpless victims.
And it’s an understatement of course. It is from the film Shore (loud noise). The son of the hero — played by the inimitable Manoj Kumar — cannot hear and Manoj Kumar needs money for the treatment. There is a contest in which if he can ride a bi-cycle nonstop for n number of days he can win a large sum of money. So while he goes round and round on his bi-cycle he sings this song with a couple of other people. The song has to be understood along with context, so I’ll keep inserting some explanations here and there.
???? ???? ?? ???
???? ??? ??????? ???
???? ???? ?? ???
???? ??? ??????? ???
?? ??????? ?? ??????? ?????
?? ???? ?? ??????? ?????
?? ????? ?? ????????? ?? ?????
?? ?? ?? ??????? ?? ?????
?????! ???? ???? ?? ???…
The true meaning of life is
that you should keep going on
whether it is dawn or dusk
This way you’ll complete your journey my friend
The black cloud will dissolve my friend
Do not cow down under pain and sadness my friend
Do not stop for even a moment my friend
?? ???? ?? ??? ?????
???? ?? ?? ??????????
??? ????? ?? ??? ??????????
???? ???? ?? ???? ??????????
repeat…
Those are beyond help
who accept defeat
Even life cocks a snook at them
and boycotts them
?? ???? ? ??? ??? ?????
?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?????
? ????? ?? ??? ??? ?????
?????? ?? ??? ?????? ?????
So win over an angry friend my friend
Make friends with all, my friend
Don’t resent your own self my friend
You are your own god my friend
???? ???? ?? ???
???? ??? ??????? ???
???? ???? ?? ???
???? ??? ??????? ???
The true meaning of life is
that you should keep going on
…
(The next scene is very early in the morning.)
?SSS ???? ???? ??? ????????
??????? ??????? ???
???? ???? ??? ????????
??????? ??????? ???
????????? ?? ???? ???? ?
???? ??? ??? ???
The lucid dawn talks like a child
In darkness sits the sun and
gradually opens its sack of light
?? ???? ????? ???? ?????
??? ?? ?? ???? ?????
?? ???? ???? ???? ?????
?? ???? ??? ??? ?????
So look in the eyes of the sun my friend
Match your hopes with that of time my friend
Become a ray of light my friend
And let this trend go on my friend
???? ???? ?? ???
???? ??? ??????? ???
???? ???? ?? ???
???? ??? ??????? ???
The true meaning of life is
that you should keep going on
…
(Now it is evening.)
?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???
???? ????? ????????
???? ??? ?? ???????? ?? ????
???? ??? ?? ???????? ?? ????
???? ??? ????????
The blistering afternoon
here now enters the colorful castle of evening
The cerulean of the evening
embraces the sky with its golden incandescence
?? ??? ???? ??????? ?????
?? ??? ???? ??????? ?????
?? ???? ???? ??????? ?????
?????? ???? ??????? ?????
The night will scatter away my friend
Our lot will improve my friend
The sun will rise again my friend
The caravan will move forward my friend
???? ???? ?? ???
???? ??? ??????? ???
???? ???? ?? ???
???? ??? ??????? ???
The true meaning of life is
that you should keep going on
…
(Manoj Kumar is totally tired now and shaking. Maybe he is into 5th or 6th day.)
???????? ???? ??? ??? ??
???????? ?? ????
???????? ???????? ???????? ????????????
???????? ?? ?????
repeat…
Courage is our faith
Courage is our religion
Courage is Allah, courage is Vahe Guru
And courage is God
?? ???? ???? ?? ?????
?? ???? ???? ?? ?????
?? ??? ?????????? ?? ?????
?? ?? ?? ???? ?? ?????So courage is worth dying for my friend
Respect courage my friend
Bow your head in front of it my friend
And you will conquer the world my friend
???? ???? ?? ???
???? ??? ??????? ???
???? ???? ?? ???
???? ??? ??????? ???
The true meaning of life is
that you should keep going on
…
Sadly I’m not a good translator of poems and songs but I’m sure people who can read and understand Hindi can consume the real import of this marvelous composition.
After much sentimental arm-twisting I forced Alka to tag me so that I too can mention on my blog what all I hate in this world. Hatred is a strong expression in fact and when you really sit down to collate all your thoughts regarding it, you wonder: is it really hatred or just a simple dislike? OK, a logically infinite loop: I hate to hate! eh! eh! So here I go nnow (it is some silly song, that’s why two n’s):
- Procrastination It is something that I really hate about myself. I would have achieved a lot in life had I not been a procrastinator.
- Pretenders I really hate people who pretend to be what they are not. Their pathetic attempts at being something, someone else is really irksome.
- Sulking Again, hate is a strong word, but I really like to avoid habitual sulkers, especially now when I understand life with much more clarity. Sulking for a while is often therapeutic and helps you reassemble your philosophies but why attain a habit of it? I prefer people who put up a fight even if they’re drawn to the bottom of the sea.
- Malodor OK, this is something I really hate because it makes me sick.
- Those who hunt for fun For them, hate is a weak word. I loathe them from the deepest crevices of my intellect. They have no right to exist in this world. They are the scum, the lowest of the lowest. They are those slimy strings of the dark-gray thing you pick with the cleaning brush when you clean the drainage of your wash-basin.
- Cockroaches I don’t hate them per se, but I wish I never see them. I know it’s not their fault that I’m so scared of them, but that’s the way it is, sadly.
- My tendency to get distracted I get distracted so easily that it is almost self-destructive. I can work 4 times more than what I do now only if I don’t get distracted. In fact, among the two evils — procrastination and easily getting distracted — this one is the worst.
- Offenders against women, children, environment and animals This might seem a bit rhetorical, but these types of offenders too come in the same category as hunters on the hatred scale. I can excuse a murder, a theft, a fraud, or even an act of treason against the country, but not acts that torment innocent women, children and animals. I cannot excuse people who damage the environment for whatever reason.
8 things? Yup, I needed to write 8 things, and I’m supposed to tag a few people according to the blog tagging protocol. I’ll do this after some time :-).
The people from BBC invited me to participate in their radio program. OK, “invited” drips of shameless exaggeration: they just let me in for 5 minutes, made me first listen to a few participants and self-assured panelists for around 3 minutes (they were talking about the Jessica Lal verdict controversy). I was about to forget why I was holding the phone when a pleasant female voice — the moderator of course — asked me what I thought about the whole thing.
I talked for a minute, I think. And then the discussion continued as if I hadn’t talked. Since I didn’t have access to a radio — oh yes, it was a radio program — maybe someone had already said what I had said. I was waiting for another chance when a burly male voice uttered, “OK Amrit, thanks for your participation, it was a pleasure, etc., etc.,” and hung up the phone. So this is how my famous BBC talk went.
At least 12 people were killed during today’s blasts in Varanasi. The news on this BBC link includes:
The explosions came days after Hindus and Muslims clashed in Uttar Pradesh’s city of Lucknow, and after Hindus looted Muslim shops and burned vehicles in the coastal resort of Goa.
I don’t want to read between the lines, but does this say the blasts occurred due to these civilian clashes? Do terrorists need reasons to blast markets and other places?
Recently there were loud protests during Bush’s visit. Many leaders gave throat-exploding speeches against the impending danger to Iran — a country thousands of kilometers away. Effigies of various proportions and dispositions were set on fire and kicked around. Then there was lots of mayhem during the cartoon protests. Will there come a day when people gather and organize such protest against terrorism? Will the effigies of the likes of Ossama be burnt?
Here’s a slightly old post on how measly the Indian magazines pay the freelance writers. Just imagine: rupee 1 per word. Assume that you write an article of 1500 words. This fetches you a payment of Rs. 1500. Now, one can write 1500 words in two hours, two days, or even two weeks, depending upon the kind of research an article requires. It doesn’t matter to the magazine publishers: they buy the words kabadi ke bhaw. They are not bothered about how much effort you put. Yes, they expect you to submit quality material because theirs is a “reputed” magazine.
Money, combined with the attitude of the editors/publishers, deter me from writing for print publications. Yes, you derive immense pleasure when you see your name in a magazine, but pleasure does not feed you. You need money to survive and you cannot survive writing for rupee 1 per word.
But then what’s the solution? As I writer, do I spend the rest of my life writing for different blogs? I don’t think so. I think if I send my articles to get published I need to send them without worrying for money. Then for me it becomes an extra activity. I’ve reached a stage where I can earn satisfyingly well. I write content for websites and they pay good money. Now I have to assign some time to writing that I can submit for print publication. Regularly writing blog is not bad too. If I begin to get decent traffic it’ll eventually help me get a good book-writing deal some day ;-).
The other option is to become famous and then switch to writing for newspapers and magazines. Famous people get paid a lot even for writing trash.
Until then, I’m happy writing for my blogs.
Amit Verma talks about the excesses taken by people in the name of protesting. I partly agree and partly disagree. The article he refers to says somewhere:
Here the animal rights campaign has something in common with the extremist reaction to the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, as seen in the attacks on Danish embassies. In both cases, a particular group says: “We feel so strongly about this that we are going to do everything we can to stop it. We recognise no moral limits. The end justifies the means. Continue on this path and you must fear for your life.”
As the writer himself says, that these two things are not comparable. You cannot compare animal rights groups with all those fanatics protesting against the cartoon (with all due respect to the Prophet).
I think when it comes to protecting animals and the environment, some form of extremism is required because otherwise people simply don’t listen. If you are so worried about the humanity and that’s why you want the animal tests to go on, why don’t you yourself volunteer or send your children to all those cosmetics labs where the eyes of monkeys are incinerated to test mascaras? If you are so in favour of progress, why not give the sacrifice?
I’m not in favour of violent protests, but then I won’t be sincere with myself if I don’t equate this form of violence with something like violence for just purposes, for instance, freedom struggle. If we endorse the violence of freedom fighters against the imperialists, we should also endorse the violence against all those evil companies, institutions and universities that conduct tests on animals. There labs should be broken and these psycho-scientists should be either chased away or fed to animals.
Bush’s visit to India was not the first instance of the communists and the fundamentalist Muslims gathering under the same umbrella to protest against both the visit and the nuclear deal. Both entities thrive on poverty, illiteracy and religious and cultural backwardness. Without these factors, these two ideologies cannot survive.
I don’t mean to imply that America is the harbinger of peace and prosperity for India. It has its own chapattis to bake. All over the world America has messed up the environment, indigenous economies, regimes and local norms. America’s on record of racial discrimination is not something they can boast about. The entire world knows how diabolically they have treated their African-American citizens. Press in Pakistan might be freer than the American press.
But sadly for the communists, America also represents progress, affluence, an opening to new ideas, and more glaringly, America represents the failure of communism by following exactly the opposite policies the communists espouse. And this is where the parallel lies between the Muslim fundamentalists and the communists. Both these ideologies think they are very superior compared to the rest of the world. Both think their ideologies cannot be questioned or altered. Both are authoritarian and totalitarian. And both, to their great chagrin, see people of the opposing ideologies living much better lives. They are confused, they are befuddled, and, alarmingly, they are frustrated. The only option they have is, maintain the status quo.
Hungry, poor, backward people are the ideal breeding grounds for the communists and Muslim fundamentalists. They want to keep people half-fed, semi-healthy and semi-clothed so that they are always resentful. Since on their own they cannot express their resentments, they need eloquent representatives. And there are no prizes for guessing who want to be their representatives.
My dear oblivion
Now and then you beckon me
With your sardonic smile
And theatrical gestures
But I pay no heed
To your overtures
The misty nights
that you blow in my direction
Are penetrable
By the beams of my resolve
The dark clouds that you brandish
from the horizons of my existence
can remain there forever
For I have my own sun
To evaporate them
Lest they come over me
The demons that you summon
to get me
Are nothing but wasps
flitting around the lamp of my dreams
I don’t hate you (my dear…and all)
For you are a mere botheration
Only visible
In the fleeting moments of despair
RSS Feeds
My Social Media Links