SUPERSTITIONS

It was almost inevitable. I had to see it. It was big and clear in the sky. ‘Poornima’ is just at the beginning of this weekend.

It was shining clearly in the dusky sky. It was almost sun set and the moon was out there to show his face. He was the first thing I had noticed looking up from the balcony. He was bright and pretty.

And then almost instantly I saw the lone star which came as a package with the moon. I couldn’t miss it. I saw it and immediately regretted seeing it. My friend once told me how a lone star should never be seen. If you see one lone star you had to see another two.

So, I craned my neck, strained my eyes but in vain. I couldn’t see any other star. I was disappointed as the story she told me had a conclusion that if you see a lone star it brought bad luck. Now I wondered as to what kind of bad luck it would bring to me.

There were too many things going on in my life and I did not want any of them going off track. So just before leaving the balcony I hoped to see two other stars but only ended up seeing flocks of crows and thought wow how better is this?! And how worse could it get.

I kept myself busy later in the evening but the thought lurked in my head. It kept playing hide and seek through the walls of my mind and I kept thinking what was going to go wrong. Then I thought am I really being dragged into all this? I was scared about a non rational thing and I felt stupid after a while. Had I really given into something of that sort?

Then my mind drifted to another reality. What was with our ancestors? Why did they always want to tag some belief or superstition as we call it today, with every other thing? Why did they always want to make people believe something which weren’t true and logical? Then I thought maybe it was right.

Even though our ancestors had famous names like Chanakya, Aryabhatta, Panini etc., having enough room for logic and invention, we saw the burliest of illogical and non rational beliefs which hang around till today.

Superstitions.

When I think deep into these superstitions all I can think of is that do they really mean what they say? Do they intend to send out the same message as they are speaking? Indeed no, but what else could you tell people of that age rather than ideas which would question their religious or traditional beliefs.

So here I would bring out a few superstitions and try and give their scientific explanations, at least to convince myself.

When people ask you not to walk under a ladder is not because you would stop growing or that you would be possessed by the devil, it is because walking under ladders could be harmful in a general sense. This belief came around at the time when electric lights weren’t yet around and people had to manage in oil lamps at the brightest. Now when you walk under a ladder at such a time when all else is dark except the circumference of the circle around the oil lamp, what else could you expect but be careful. During day time, walking under ladders wasn’t allowed as the grounds during those times were undulated. Now they didn’t have the facilities of tar and concrete roads where all ladders could hold still and not tumble over everything or everyone. This was why the superstition was attached to forbid people from walking under the ladders in the night and in general.

When people ask you not to walk the path crossed by a black cat is not because that would bring you bad luck it is because you could fall sick. Cats whether black, white or any other colour are known to give out energies which aren’t very good for the human body. It is a known fact that every living being has certain kind of energy around them whether positive or negative. When you cross the path crossed by a black cat or any other cat, it leaves behind its negative energy which is not always but sometimes harmful. It isn’t so harmful that a person may die, but harmful enough to give a fever for a day or two. This couldn’t exactly be highlighted by our ancestors or may be explained to other people and so the superstitious tag attached.

I grew up listening to this line from my mother, “Do not sweep the home after sun set. ‘Lakshmi’ will walk away from the house.” Indeed according to her, if you sweep the house post sun set, you lose money. However, every time I questioned her about it she told me it had a logical explanation but she had no time to explain it. So one day I got on her nerves, irritated her and budged out the logic. Supposedly in times of ill lighting, people usually lost their valuable as they swept houses post sun set. As no one actually could clearly identify what was being swept away, people faced a few loses of valuable metals. Thus the superstition stepped in and forced people to give up the habit. This holds no sense today when we all work under electricity and also waste it as much by using it even when not needed.

I go on about a few more superstitions but I think I am way too bored writing about it. Nevertheless, I shall talk about one last thing. I have been questioned various many times about the fact that why Hindus don’t eat beef and why it is a taboo. Of course, the ‘Holy Cow’. But why the ‘Holy Cow’?

I grew up in a Hindu Brahmin family and I know the rules of praying to God at least once a day. So also did I learn about a few things about the Hindu culture and the Hindu mythology. According to it, there are 33 crore Gods a Hindu can pray to and kneel before. Interestingly all these 33 crore Gods reside in a cow and its various parts.

Hindus are believers of love and brotherhood. Not like any other religion or belief’s people and followers aren’t. This is not what I am trying to portray. Coming back, they have been using the cow for centuries now. To them it gives them milk, butter, ghee, it a beast of burden, helps them plough the fields (both the cow and bull) etc. this means that the animal is actually giving them a lot. It was also the main object of barter amongst many communities and also signified wealth to certain other communities. The cow’s skin comes handy as leather when it is dead and the skin of the animal is taken off only after it is dead. When so much was done by an animal, the Hindus decided to show some amount of respect and love towards this animal amongst others. That is how the ban on killing cows for their meat came up from times immemorial (basically since our ancestors gained a sense of things around them and started forming laws) and considered this animal holy and worth preserving.

This animal’s mythological importance gave it another stand still and held it in high priority of preservation and kept it against torture for many years and generations but not throughout.

This is how the cow gained the Holy status and people went about negating it and wanting to have more of the meat of this Holy animal.

These were some of the thoughts that propped up only from looking up at the sky. So far, the bad luck has only been in terms of India losing its first of the three matches against West Indies in the five match series and me suffering from a bad stomach. I don’t think this has been so bad but let’s wait and see how bad this can get!

Until then start thinking of new beliefs and logic to the old superstitions.

DREAMS…

Those were some of the best moments of my life. I know I always fancied the idea of having tea from a large mug in a balcony or terrace or anywhere close to nature.

I have always been in love with nature and the idea of tea with it is like one of the best things happening to me.

The strong smell of tea leaves with a mild odour of ginger in it, a bird flying high in the sky and the sounds of nature along with man made noises (which is a little disturbance but tolerable nonetheless), I could live my entire life that way and never get bored.

For a person who loves moment writings, that is the best setting. Thoughts flow and there is no way you can forget them. Type them out later and celebrate achieving one more piece of writing.

Nature gives me peace of mind and piece to write on, both of which are my happy priorities.

There is something about watching the sky and enjoying the birds soaring high above. However, this which I loved more when I was young is less enjoyed by me now. I do not know if it is the pollution, ozone hole or man to blame, even though all the three are interconnected. I tire my neck by looking up for long minutes to catch a glimpse of a bird flying high in the sky but in vain.

It doesn’t usually happen nowadays and honestly it doesn’t surprise me anymore.

I have a dream. It includes a lot of things put together. But one piece of that dream is to sit outside every day, sip at my tea mug and think about more things to write, this time on a wooden armchair in a house made from opal wood.

The closest to nature (according to me!).

‘BASANTI’ TO ‘BILLO’?

It is indeed true. Movies have moved on from “Basanti” who used to be an “abla naari” (a gullible women) who falls prey to every other villain in a movie. Now women are stronger and avoid the general stereotype which has been attached to them since times immemorial.

Talking about stereotyping, a stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. This is given in such a way that people who wish to escape also can’t manage to do it. Because of the beauty of it being tagged to the whole group, individuals suffer its wrath. Now not all Arabs wish to bomb the world. Do they?

As I am covering gender stereotyping in movies, I shall be talking about the shy women who constrained themselves to the kitchens, cooking in the hot “chullas” to the women who went out killing their husbands, there by standing against social evils (at least this is what the movies show!).

Gender stereotyping began with civilization itself. It is a known fact that women are physically weaker than men. Probably that is the only field where they lack. Due to this women have always been restricted to kitchens and taking care of children at home. Even during the early man stage, women stayed back to look after the children where as men went out to hunt.

This idealism and thought has been carried forth to centuries. With the advent and growth of generations and mankind as such, there wasn’t much change to this theory. However, only recent five or six years see a change in the society where women are given importance too.

As movies and films came into being, their stories revolved around the society. Hence, most of these presented the same theme of women being the weaker sex. Unfortunately in the rush to bring out that women are weak and had to be contained at home, atrocities and oppressions against women became a major sub-topic.

Movies always reflected the society, even to this day. It became a habit to every director and script writer to include violence against women in movies. This grew and some of the best movies came out of this. The list includes Daman (starring Raveena Tendon), Lajja (starring Madhuri Dixit, Manisha Koirala), Mehndi (Rani Mukherjee). All these movies show the violence against women but end on one note- the victory of women over men and the evil social customs.

But this transformation came in much later. Prior to this, women were still featured as sorry figures. They were not only restricted to kitchens but were withheld on the grounds of dowry, non marriage of widows, no freedom to women to express views etc. Water and Paap amongst others are some of the movies which feature this. Then came the women who worked in industries, offices at respectable positions. But there was a catch there as well. In the movie Corporate, Bipasha Basu is a well to do woman but she lands up as a scape goat in a corporate scandal.

The evolution wasn’t complete and neither did it stop here. I am sure the growing and developing society and mentality of people was tired of watching all this negativity. As they say ‘born out of ashes’, then came along a line of movies showing strong women in strong roles like Khalnayika- a strong vamp, Fiza- a strong sister, Chak de India- strong bunch of sports women, changing the definition of women and taking it to its best.

Movies currently feature item numbers. And with Bollywood trying to ape Hollywood to the core, with vulgarity and nudity increasing, rather than sensual and beauty, the poor ‘‘Basanti’’ is now transformed to a ‘‘Billo’’. This has not only lost the respect towards the female gender but also has left her to an object rather than human. She is now a showpiece to draw on or an unwanted sexual (not sensual) element in a mattress advertisement.

Men however, have moved on from being the heroes to villains but maintain their ego and position in movies- villains because, anything that goes wrong, is blamed on the man. He is responsible for all the wrong and evil in the society and he is the one who always commits all the atrocities.

I am not trying to draw conclusions. The society has been carrying this thought and has been molded in this way. Though for the past few years (I dare say), the society is changing its thought process. How good or bad it is I have no idea but it has its own repercussions.

Unfortunately the woman who was a mercy creature earlier has now been reduced to an item girl with men more or less the same.

SPORTS-THEY LIVE IT!!!

It’s funny when it is the 90^th minute with a plus three and there are three angry men in the room. Too much of three right? This is the match between Liverpool and Norwich. These three men are hell bent of making Liverpool win and even screaming their lungs out obviously trying to make the players listen to them. But I don’t think that seems to be working much.

I am furiously typing away at my laptop while Liverpool and Norwich end at a 1-1.

There is disappointment and anger in the room but I think things will sink back into normal.

I know my share of work. Talk as much less as I could to my friends, let them do what they are engaged in and try to be calm myself. With three men screaming at the top of their voices, trust me it is freaky. You need to be here to see and feel it.

AMALGAMATION- THE PERFECT “KHICHDI”

ARRANGED MARRIGE:

Arranged marriage is a very common way of having long or short term legal relationships with a known or unknown family in India. It is a concept which begins with happiness and ends in turmoil and tension, not always though. Marriage is a sacred institution where two people along with their families come together to make a bond which supposedly gives them happiness.

Arranged marriages have a varied concept in different parts of the world. In India, they are usually an example of remaining in culture and making family ties with in the same cultural background or ethnicity. As India is suffocated with a varied variety of cultural diversity, there are different ethnic groups from which result different kind of marriages.

In India an arranged marriage is considered to be the best for two families as parents have an upper hand and can scrutinize the to be bride and groom respectively. They also hold the right to call off a marriage if the “needs and demands” aren’t fulfilled. With arranged marriages come the extra benefit of dowry and where else but in a large chunk of Indian landmass can this be seen?

With the tradition of haldi, mehndi and jaimaal, come the extra tension of giving away the girl and overtly agony struck parents and relatives can be seen. It is not like love marriages are the most happiest and successful marriages in the world or even India for that matter, but in many cases love marriages save the pain of dowry and bring the extra ethnicity under the same roof (as in many cases the bride and groom are from a different ethnic background). Though statistics say that love marriages are less successful than arranged, people love to go against the rule.

Media plays a very good and important part in getting marriages in and out of place. With the extra hype that media gives every agenda these days, if an actor or celebrity is even considering buying a ring that would end up as breaking news. Heard of honour killings- a very non conceptualised and illogical option according to everyone but the bride and groom?

Arranged marriages are an ego boost to everyone including the elders in a family and putting aside the Bollywood drama everyone considers it a necessity. Media plays an active role in giving a very durable imprint to this ego and highlighting it without considering a fall or a rise in anyone’s status or family matters. Till date media has done more harm to the “fame” than good as far as projecting this scared institution is considered.

POLITICS:

A theory which deals with power and its overuse which brings extra ordinary fame either in positive or negative light. Right from college addas to husband wife relationships, agony aunts to bosses, politics is seen everywhere. And limiting one self’s knowledge to the overly ambitious and “useful” politicians of India is bad idea!

Politics is a phenomenon one addresses and experiences right from the lower kindergarten. Even if a kid is unaware of it then, later on in life he/she would re collect an incident which reminded them of politics. Going by the most common belief in India, politics is a gutter which no one really wishes to clean up. It is a perfect example of an oxymoron- amazingly pathetic and not only for an oxymoron it has defined many other figures of speech of the English language in an absolute perfect sense.

When the classification of living beings was done, the theory of politics was used there as well. Even the ants and bees have political brains though division of labour is the best terminology that fits there. But with the advent of who is to collect food and who is rest and lay eggs, the queen bee does rule to dictate her power.

Form the flyovers that we travel on, to the drinking water that helps us wash our buffalos, politicians have kept their word in doing a great deal of Politics happens to be the favourite pass time of media these days. When they have no better wonder like a human face fish or a Yeti to show, they come up with showing politicians rubbing off on each other with more bad than good.

Politics is India is majorly associated with the Leftists and Rights who are always busy bashing each other in public and doing little good work. However this is the current scenario as 60 odd years ago India was a free but divided state due to politics and the politicians. There was a little good work done there but the repercussions still exist and the current generations are facing its brunt.

This perfect opposition has created a balancing stand for media which has its perfect platform to be the Doberman instead of the “kutta” and create its own identity by being the cat who walks away with the cake when two monkeys fight over it. Though the media is bashed as well but people believe in the dirty politics played by the media against the politicians. The events or facts or even the minutest information shared by media is taken to be the inside story without inspecting for the truth.

INDIA:

India is the perfect conglomeration of various ethnic groups and cultures where communal harmony is an everyday habit. It is also a land of hypocrisy where communal violence if any is dealt with so much love that it leaves many civilians dead and others crippled for life.

India has always been a major country in the southern Asian peninsula and more than any other SAARC country it has had a major positive influence on other nations that is to say it has been less involved in either keeping terrorists as pay-in guests or bombing other countries for the sake of it. Not like India has been at its behavior best as she has been majorly involved with some of the crude war fares.

With slogans like “atithi devo bhava” and “God’s own country” it hasn’t been able to gather much positivity around it as many Scarlet Keelings get raped with every foreigner and tourist that comes to India is welcomed by testosterone high men who use their “tool” to think on seeing White people especially girls.

A country if not rich in resources but rich in culture, has over a period of time developed itself too much for any other poor nation (though it is a derogatory term and is not to be used as laid by the UN). Now India happens to be a developed country with great amount of self sufficiency even though it has a huge amount to pay off to the World Bank.

India is the house of varied gods and goddess who appear in various forms and have done a lot of good to their devotees. Religion in India is a major sensitive agenda and anyone including the media loves to finger it for their own good (mostly in monetary value). To the outside world India is that land of epitomic symbolism of goodness that no one dares to wish against her good will except for extreme orthodox groups which hold a long term unnecessary grudge and haven’t been able to move on.

India is shown by media in a number of ways both good and bad. Though for the media India is that golden goose which gives golden eggs everyday and media sells the eggs to the highest bidder. Gone are the days when India was the “sone ki chidiya” today it is a toy and less of a mother land to all those people who pledge that India is my country but can do anything to sell her off in a foreign market. All this is openly broadcasted by the media to fill its pockets and earn more than just the livelihood.

MOVEMENT- THE EVERYDAY SCENE

‘Parents bring children to witness “second” freedom struggle.’ This was one of the headlines of The Hindu, page 10, dated 22^nd August. This is what the Nation has come to. India, which has the largest Constitution in the world, has taken the utmost care to see to it that none of her citizens feel any agony and pain at any point of time. Due to this, 64 years ago the Constitution was drafted with a view that everyone would share equal rights.

NATION:

A nation is an area which has a fixed territorial border and a certain cultural and ethnic background. India has always had a fixed territorial demarcation with a certain exception to the ever disputed Kashmir and the now POK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir). India has always been horded with a huge array of cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity. Due to this a dictionary meaning of a nation is satisfied in this case.
The idea of a nation also comes from the people living in it. Hence the concept of society and community take a very strong upfront. When a community which comes out in the number of tens of thousands on streets and protests for a certain reason, it becomes a major concern for the government. Government which is an important part of a nation helps in protecting the rights of its citizens and keeps things under control. But what happens if the same government loses control? Who are the citizens supposed to turn to?
It is under these circumstances that the idea of a nation is the strongest. India being a democratic country gives its citizens certain rights. To raise a voice against the violation of the rights becomes a duty. Under the current scenario, where there is a huge nationwide protest to free the country off its corruption is a right that every citizen holds.
The movement lead by Kisan Babu Rao Hazare or Anna Hazare, is a huge movement comprising of various sects of people and sees the inclusion of political institutions like ABVP. It is for the first time that the opposition parties have bonded together to bring something very important under one roof. Everything in the power of citizens is being done to get the Lokpal Bill passed by the Parliament.
When talking about a nation, especially one like India which has a high population of youth and the most varied cultural ethnicity, it is a difficult idea to get people together. A place where discussions are made on every orthodox community and there is always a resent between them, a term like corruption becomes a binding factor.
But with the right to stage a protest also comes the duty to hold complete knowledge of the subject and to understand what is being fought for. Unfortunately in a place like India where people are given a limitless amount of power, the ego and the authority to do anything comes naturally to them. Due to this the current campaign sees its own problems. Assuming that at a given point of time there are about 2 lakh people in an area assembled to support the movement. If 10% of these people are taken into consideration and asked at least 5 points in the Lokpal Bill, they wouldn’t be able to answer all of them. Also how many people or supporters as they would like to call themselves, know that 16 conditions of the 20 have been accepted by the government and only 4 remain to be accepted?
The idea here is with power of the right, the responsibility of a duty is forgotten due to which people move on to terms like fasts for which the government has to budge and all this because India as a nation is a democratic country. Form this comes the idea of a nation as described in the notes where a nation is any place which has a fixed territory and holds its own governments, national emblem, national symbol etc.

QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT:

The most dramatic and large scale movements of India at the time of freedom struggle, the Quit India Movement was started by Mahatma Gandhi and turned out to be one of the most bloody and non violent movement, completely against the Gandhian principles. The Quit India Movement went bizarre due to many reasons. The absence of a leader (as the leaders were arrested as soon as the movement was put into force), the frustration of people due to the British and to see the country free against colonial rule made the movement bloody.
India is facing its second “freedom struggle” not against any foreign rule but against corruption which has been piled up by her own country’s politicians and bureaucrats which has gone so far that the margin between the rich and poor divide of the economic strata has widened beyond measures. The recent decade has seen a huge number of scams which got before the public a humongous amount of money that jaws had to drop and the need to raise a committee to keep a check on the unthinkable and extreme collection of money was needed.
When an ordinary social activist raised a hue and cry against this corruption and for a committee he had to face the sentence of the very same government who was so fiercely involved in spreading the corruption to every single corner of the country. Though different people hold different opinions about the movement, there was more than proof enough to see that something was hugely amiss with the current system of pattern of work and governance.
This movement has a leader and such a strong one that somewhere people have forgotten that there is a need to support the movement and not only the leader. The shout of slogans in support of Anna Hazare is not non ethical but the mention of his name which has become synonymous with anti corruption had gained more popularity. As a result of this any and every statement or talk by the leader is followed and are considered words of the wise. A leader who wishes to alter the boundaries of a certain system of democracy must know how he is altering the chain of thoughts of a huge mass of people and what is he leading them into. This becomes immensely important because the presence of a strong leader provides a huge communication barrier between people and the government and every word said by the leader(s) is only paid heed to.
Under such dire circumstances, a negative impact on people can also be put due to which the masses can be turned against the government in a negative way. The currengt campaign though against corruption is valid, but the disconnection between the citizens and government or the connection via the leaders of the movement is unethical as all the valid and ethical information is not being shared.
a country where democracy gives immense power to its people is where they misuse it and due to this disparity between the citizens continues. The campaign against corruption maybe right but its execution is wrong and its followers more so. The government can’t see its citizens dying and forcing the government to do so is just the biggest misuse of a right and the most horrendous abuse of a duty.

MISTAKES

Did Shakespeare really talk about two beasts?

And did he add their backs?

Every day you see the feasts

And every day there are cracks.

There are so many of them out there

It is dark, lonely and crazy

Everyone is in the search of- where

They are all active, none of them lazy.

They run, they hide, they try to survive

They do not know how they came and why

There are no equations to derive

They are born and eventually they die!

They curse themselves, they cry to God

Not everyone kneels before the man

They are beaten with the stern rod

And they do all that they can.

It’s not their fault it’s not them to blame

It’s the darkness inside and the mistakes that happen

It’s the youth that tales over, that reason so lame

Which plays with their lives making their soul dampen!

Foster kids, those lovely people

If only someone knew how much they go through

In the cities that are strangers with buildings that steeple

Is the reason for their loss making them blue!

WE KILL- EEKKS…!!!

Don’t go by the name because you might just tend to read it otherwise. It is all about the Wikileaks! Though it was the inauguration of the First Amphitheatre of Manipal, somehow the main topic of discussion under a panel comprising of Dr M V Kamath, Honorary Director of Manipal Institute of Communication (MIC), Varadesh Hirengange, Director of MIC and Arvind Kumar, HOD Geopolitics and International Affairs, was the most intense event of the evening. Not forgetting there was band performance by the Death and the Strawberry and a very good street play by Adaa, a theatre club.

The evening started with the band performing soon after which Adaa took the audience on a roll with their play on the themes of nationalism and how the youth is favourably unsupportive of national interest causes. It was an outstanding play not only because of the theme but also due to the brilliant acting by the members of Adaa.

The next hot topic of discussion or rather the only topic of discussion was Wikileaks- An apt form of Journalism? Every member from the panel was to give their opening remarks and opinions on the topic and then the floor was thrown open for discussion amongst the panel and the audience (comprising of students from Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), MIC. Kasturba Medical College (KMC) etc).

M V Kamath started with his opening statements where he very strongly opposed the actions of Wikileaks by calling them unethical as according to him, no government, country, citizens or a group of people have the right to tap information of any kind. Following him was Arvind Kumar, who spoke about Wikileaks in terms of national security. He said that the actions of Wikileaks could come as a threat to the national security of a lot of countries as foreign policies were being devastatingly affected due to the exchange of information which takes away the trust of the people from their government. Varadesh Hirangange, spoke quite on the contrary to both the former speakers calling Wikileaks’ work completely genuine and good as citizens, people and the other governments have the right to know what is going on in the world.

After this, as if the audience were possessed with the topic at hand, opinions, questions, statements, comments poured in like crazy. They were aggressive open debates on sub topics some of which were:

1. If USA’s sensitive spots are revealed wouldn’t it be a threat to the nation’s security?

2. To tap a phone a person/group needs the permission of the Ministry.

3. There are some things which journalists get as information but they cannot be revealed keeping people’s interest in mind.

4. What exactly is in people’s interest and the interest of the people?

5. How different or similar is diplomacy and people’s representation in a democracy or a country?

6. If USA is behaving like a global police isn’t it right in saying that it is also a global terrorist?

This and many more points were raised to an unsatisfying audience as the debate had to be closed down due to the time constrain. But every talk, every comment was worth the time given. Organised by MUTBI, this was the first event in the amphitheatre.

As per for the title of the entire article, I thought why not modify it and tell what Wikileaks is according to me. So as I have defined it, Wikileaks is “We kill- eekks...!” This is because the information passed across nations has created quite a ruckus among them and more or less media, in a broader sense is being blamed as many people think that all of this is entirely responsible for it. I do not know if I should say yes or no, but indeed, media has taken quite a pivotal role in guiding this movement. So, “we kill” means “we, the media has been responsible in one way or another in killing different emotions (in form of trust of the citizens on their governments, as an example), treaties, information, revelations etc.” As a matter of fact, this title happened to me as a result of brain storming with the word Wikileaks. So, keeping my opinion in the end, for all those people who weren’t present at the venue, guys you did miss out on a lot of wonderful and intelligent talking.!

WINDS AND TIME…

Have you ever heard the winds growl in anger, waiting to be free, broken form the bondage they are in? Have you heard them scream at you angrily because you would not let them go? I have! But telling you about it could be a little funny.

Currently I am living in a place called Manipal which is a very small, land locked town of Karnataka. Majorly comprised of the Manipal University, this town is a nature-at-its-best place. It has all that you could think a town could have and there is nothing about this town that would make you despise it. Oh, I forgot, except the weather. The weather is mainly extreme and even though Karnataka has the privilege of being close to the sea, Manipal is no good as it is land locked. Moral of the story, Manipal has its own sadistic weather.

So, as I was talking about the winds and how I heard them growling in anger. It so happened that one fine day when I was having my pleasant Sunday afternoon long shower I heard something very scary and yes, nerving. For a moment I froze because believe me readers, I actually thought that indeed my fears have come alive. Finally there is a ghost in my bathroom (yeah not my closet!!)!! And I froze there for a minute thinking okay what the hell do I do now?!!? Freaking out would be a better word, because that is precisely what I was doing.

I waited, listened again and then broke into a fit of laughter. I laughed so loud that my roommate knocked on the door and asked me if I was fine, assuming that I had slipped and fallen so I was laughing (which I normally do, laugh when I fall and not cry!). Eh, yeah I am a little weird. Coming back to why I was laughing, it was the wind of course.

When a strong wind blows through a small crevice, it makes a growling noise which seems like one of the horror effects given in a movie. So, putting the pieces of the story together- small gap in the window of my bathroom, wind blows through it, I freak out, realize it is but the wind and break into laughter. Tadaa a small story!!

My main aim of writing this piece was of course a little humor (at which I am very bad), but there is another message to it too. People around us there a lot of things keep happening. These things are so minute that we don’t notice them because we are too busy with our own lives. We do not have time for ourselves, leave alone our parents and friends. If only we could take a few seconds out of our busy schedules and give that time to our loved ones and to Mother Nature, we would be sparing time for our own happiness indeed. It is these small moments which lighten us up when there is no one around us and we really need someone to come and comfort us. Listening to nature could be a very good habit or hobby as it not only alerts our senses but it also gives a little peace to our ever tiring body and soul.

So the next time something freaks you out, stop, look, observe, listen and then laugh it off….unless there is really a ghost in your closet!!

LOOKOUT….

Question: Sir, you said that you were unemployed for around eight months after you resigned from the Independent. So, does this mean there is no job security in the field of journalism?

Answer: No. absolutely not. Well, if you do want a job security why don’t you join LIC instead?

And at this the entire audience in Chaitya Hall broke into a huge applause and cheered out loud. I joined them too saying, ‘Oh my god. Now that was a punch in the face.’ A fellow college mate sitting in front of me turned around and said, ‘Oh yes, that was a big hard punch!’

It wasn’t the student’s fault to ask that question. Little did he know he was talking to Vinod Mehta, editor of the Outlook magazine. Yes indeed, that is what Vinod Mehta is. A witty, in-your-face, spontaneous and intelligent person. But at the same time he will sit back and take a minute off, think and then answer a question. Though he gives fire and energy with every answer, he still insists that there are a few questions which need time and can’t be just buttered out.

A man who in one of his letters to his readers in the magazine said that he wouldn’t take offence on anything the readers spoke about him unless they spared his wife, paternity and his dog whom he calls-Editor, he would be a happy man. He has a clear cut policy-believe in the truth and bring it out. He also says that journalism is about commercialization because journalists are out there not to be Public Service Announcers but they are there to do their job.

Printing a paper or a magazine, or even broadcasting a television show or a radio show has its own costs and if a journalist is working towards earning that cost it isn’t a bad deal. But having said this, he explains why he says that. He isn’t supporting paid news or fake news or even asking reporters to take bribes. All he says is that journalists need to understand their sticking to ethics is good but if it hurdles in getting the truth out, then they must try methods not so conventional, in bringing out the truth. Still, he insists to keep ‘that’ money away.

He adds being friends with politicians isn’t really a very good idea. Being a critic is important and when a journalist is a friend to a politician or a celebrity, he/she cannot be a critic. Having mock tails at a party, lunch or dinners with celebs and politicians is good, but being too close and sharing personal information or sharing an emotional bond with these people can cost a little too much to a journalist’s profession. That is because he/she cannot freely criticize them. So maintaining a good distance and keeping an official contact to get the truth out is important.

He is not a non-supporter of ethics but he says if Wikileaks had chosen Outlook instead of The Hindu, he would give out his right arm and gladly support them. By this he meant, stick to your ethics but work hard towards getting the truth out. At the end of the day, bringing the truth out to people is more important than anything else.

Protection of source is vital and to an extent mandatory. He is against the concept of revealing his source because he honestly and openly believes that if he lets out his sources’ name, he is losing him/her forever. So, he says even if he had to go through the worse, he wouldn’t mind it but he would never reveal his source.

I do not normally choose to write about people in my blog, but here I am doing it. There is a reason behind it. Vinod Mehta is a man who is not a preacher, not a pretender. He tells you to wake up, look at the truth and the reality. Preaching about ethics, saying that a certain institution (here even a media organization), is not exchanging money under the table or indulging in corruption or even being exclusive for a piece of news is false and an ideal situation which is good in theory. What is important is being right and if you are wrong, accepting that you are wrong. He will bring the right thing and give it to you in your face. He will not beat around the bush or pretend to know something. He is what he is. And without a doubt I am in complete awe of the man.

He says, ‘Any media house is run by a business man. I am here to do a business and I am not working towards preaching for the public. I am working towards bringing the truth to them and thus doing my job. I support and will always be a supporter of the truth, no matter what.’

AN ASSOCIATION

A real time work for a real time purpose- this is how I see the new website coming as. I always wanted to be a part of something real time, something which was different from my course, something extra, something nice. Joining the Manipal The Talk.Net 2.0, I feel there could be a new beginning and I could actually work towards it-work towards making a certain difference in others and hence my life.

Every big work/task needs a small step. I see this website as a small step to a huge ocean of knowledge and improvement in my writing skills. There are a few basic things which make a good website and I feel the Executive Team has put in almost everything that could make it a hooker for students. Also, there are more ideas which are still pouring in and would be uploaded in the near time period.

Every member of the Executive Team has some quality which makes them stand out from the rest be in terms of literally skills, painting drawing, selling a product (publicity mainly) decision making or coming up with the most weirdest and never-heard of ideas. Hence, all in all, the 19 members so far hold an important position in the team and have been working equally hard to get the site to heights of which others can only dream but we CAN achieve.

A site you should look up to and look for as it is going to be the next best thing in the ‘www.’.

IT’S ALL FAITH…

The most impatient and toughest hours are the ones when it’s nearing its end. I lose my patience always pray to God to help me survive through the last few minutes. I am talking about my fast on Maha Shivratri. I have been doing them for around four years now and each year it just gets better. No troubles, no worries, only God and me. It is eternal and out of the world experience.

The only problem that comes is what I have mentioned above. However, it is sweet to wait for the last few moments to come to an end so that I could take my first drop of water and that too the jal from the puja. This year I thought why not write about it.

I am an ardent believer of Lord Shiv and I do all that in my power to pray and worship Him. My mother would always tell me that it is very difficult to please Shiv but He being the bhole baba, the innocent one-once pleased, He will give you whatever you wish for. Where my attraction for him started I have no idea. Maybe because I was born on a Monday and Monday is the Shiv pujan day which is why I am such a strong believer in Him…

This year, everything went as smooth as the butter only until nine pm after which weakness hit me hard. I knew I had started to fall apart physically but I had to keep up with the fatigue. Anyway, the fast includes not drinking water or eating anything for 24 hours and keeping maun i.e., not talking either. My friends asked me how can I not speak to which I just think ‘God makes you do things if you believe in Him’ and smile. At the end of the 24 hours, I break my fast with the Holy Water and then eat food. Also once seated to eat, getting up and eating a second time isn’t allowed. So it’s always better to keep everything ready before hand which I make sure of.

Breaking the fast isn’t the best thing about the day though. I’ll tell you why. The whole day I am on nothing and when I suddenly eat I feel nauseous with a heavy head and sweaty forehead. This is because breakdown of food inside the body is an exothermic reaction hence releasing heat. And as I am empty stomach the whole day, this reaction speeds up there by releasing heat immediately. Not wanting to eat after two spoons is another feeling which comes in. As the heat releases, the body moves into fatigue and the muscles stiffen up wanting rest. But pushing the body towards gaining a little energy is the only way to keep my stomach full. As I break my fast and I am done eating, I relax pray again and fall asleep thanking Him for making the fast good and easy.

A sense of nausea hits me and I wish I could doze off, travel to another world where I could pray more and reach the eternal. I know I am tired but I know He will save me from all my troubles and grant me peace in the end. He knows that I will come back to Him year after year till I am there. I also know He is there for me, always by my side smiling from above and saying-look I am inside your heart.

NEVER SAY DIE….

Modern Times, a Charles Chaplin, 1936 movie was a laughter bug which bit the audience with a message. Indeed it would be an understatement to call it just a message as the movie revolves around a clear cut idea of spreading lot of social, economical and human emotions and problems.

Highlighting the plight of people during the Great Depression (a severe world wide economic depression after the World War II) and their frantic situation to get employed in a subtle yet so humorous way was the most outstanding feature brought out by the director-actor Charles Chaplin.

In a story which begins from The Tramp (one of the most famously recognized characters of Charles Chaplin) working in a factory where he has a nervous breakdown and is taken to a hospital. It is after his recovery that the main story begins. One after the other, incidents happen and put the Tramp in a position where he is either guilty of the crime or he wants to be guilty of a crime. To begin with, he was arrested as a misinterpreted communist leader. It is there that he realizes that life inside the prison is better than the world he has to move out into after serving his term. Proving to be a good, responsible and behaved citizen and prisoner, he is given a comfortable zone inside the prison itself from where he does not wish to move out from. However, after serving his term when he is released on good grounds and given a letter which would get him employment easily, he still leads a life of misery as things do not change for good.

Change occurs when the Tramp meets a young woman and takes care of her. Together they look for a house and employment both. When the Tramp is arrested again the girl finds a job in a café where she sings and dances for her audience. The girl is a runaway from an orphan house where she and hers sisters where taken after her father dies in a clash between the government and the unemployed people. After Charles Chaplin’s release, he also sings for the same café. But short-lived is their happiness as the officers from the orphan house find the girl. She is however not ready to go back and the Tramp and girl restore to running ending on a note where they do not wish to give up finding an employment and making a home for themselves-a never say die attitude.

Charles Chaplin has brought out all the necessary emotions and problems in a very in- the-face way where he has sharply yet subtly shown how the law and the government act in their own way imposing themselves on people. Where at one point, the government and law did little to employ the unemployed, poor, hungry ad starving people, on the other hand it imposed itself on the people clearing them away from streets, arresting without reasons and also getting hold of them by force under the name of security. The sharp contrast of the high class and the low class is also brought out well in the scene where the lady who sees the girl stealing a bread of loaf informs the police officer about the same. Resorting to means which are unlawful, by people who are tired of hunger is depicted well too. He is created his story in such a way that the audience could connect to the movie immediately as they are the ones on whom the entire story is based. More over, the characterization and the story of each character individually also give s more room to understanding in an audiences’ mind even if the character had appeared for hardly a few minutes.

All through out the movie one concept has clearly been kept in the mind-showing the problems through humor. The same scene carries both the extremes of the movie. For example, in the scene where the Tramp is fired at by the crooks is a sheer contrast as in one case it is funny with the Tramp not being able to balance himself on the skates and at the same time it is sad when the crooks tell him that they have taken to stealing only to feed themselves and meant no harm.

The music adds to the story and gives meaning to every scene. Though, the movie also has a few dialogues by a few characters, it was a silent movie. The direction of the movie is done in a way that the important scenes are shown with close up shots and the others with long shots, though the movie does not carry many face shots. The background and setting of the movie is made as realistic as possible and with no extra credits or efforts. The backgrounds are made by taking real places into consideration instead of making a set or scene or a back drop.

Considered to be one of Charles Chaplin’s best movies, it came as a good break of knowledge and humor to the people of that period. It is a remarkable story where Charles Chaplin has showed his talents, all as an actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He is at known to be at his best, because he was able to make the immediate connect ion with his spectators as he knew best about what they felt. He gave away messages and hints to make people understand that life is a struggle and it should go on. Giving up was no solution and the only thing that keeps life going is-never say die!