Rang De Basanti : A ghost post by Suka

I must categorically opine that RDB can indeed be viewed as a "coming of age" of Indian cinematics. The juxtaposition of past against present, of the increasing capillarity of the all-pervasive McDonaldization of Indian cultures (as indeed is the case with most "third world" cultures) versus the inner voice within us which cries out to be heard and which thirsts to hold on until Kingdom Come to our once-glorious past, is captured in RDB in a new paradigm, with a new vibrancy, and is indeed reflective of the essence of "Traditional Hindustan" versus "Modern India". RDB is, in some ways, a "tipping point", not just for the petty fiefdoms and narrow bylanes of Bollywood, but indeed of the present era of our nation, where the pull of sartorial splendour and "Lingua Anglicia" prevades over time-bound feelings - feelings which are now perhaps no more than misty myths of memory which will fade in due course and, like all things noble and commendable, will get washed away in the ever-shifting sands of time.

To pose a counter-argument I would declaim, with equal vehemence, that RDB has indeed viewed a plethora of weighty topics through a very narrow prism. The ominscient "Mediafication" of society, the impact of cultural anarchy and rootlessness among our susceptible youth, and of the entire concept of "patriotism" - or more accurately, "nationalism" - is the bottomline thrust of the movie. And how is this thrust achieved? In the process, the director undertakes the mission of glorifying the mirrors that the various facets of media keep reflecting to us, nay to our inner selves. Is this aggrandization necessary? Is it even desirable? Are we now so insular unto ourselves and so out of touch with our feelings that we have lost the ability to introspect and instead need external stimuli - in the form of a typically brazen and biased media - to understand our Ego as opposed to our falsified Id? Perhaps not, as the author so eloquently (though not succintly, alas) phrases it. In any case, a counter-view to every mode of expression is a welcome indicator of a democracy which is inclusive and virile; and in leveraging his indenible right to expression, the author has done no mean disservice to the land of the birth of his forefathers - which is indeed, in itself, in isolation, a patriotic act!

USB.org - Certified Wireless USB

USB.org - Certified Wireless USB

this is it

no turning back from here. leaving for home today. off to a three week vacation then. zindagi aa raha hun men.

seven things : tagged by srini

Thought I'd complete it before I go off. maybe my list'll change when I return. we shell see, no?

Seven things I would like to do before I die
1. Visit angkor-vat in cambodia
2. start a firm
3. learn Arabic
4. ransack THE tour operator's office
5. learn to whistle the real loud finger in the mouth one
6. learn rock-n-roll
7. read or listen to Shrimad-Bhagwat.

Seven things I can do...
1. play guitar
2. play harmonium
3. listen to ANY kind of music
4. drink water. lots of it. really lots.
5. eat gulab-jamun with curd
6. read lord of the rings along with the hobbit.
7. watch DDLJ

Seven things I cannot do...
1. play cricket
2. play cards
3. listen without reasoning
4. drink pineapple juice and eat karela
5. calculate and keep accounts.
6. read poems.
7. tell jokes.

Seven things I say the most
1. why
2. holi mari kombs
3. burrrr
4. switch apok
5. bah
6. raat ki baat kabhi sach nahi hoti
7. I forgot

Seven things that attract you to the opposite sex..
1. smile
2. long hair
3. western clothes
4. intelligence
5. sense of humor
6. sense of dressing
7. frankness

Seven celebrity crushes
1. Ash
2. Sush
3. Zinta
4. Barrymore
5. Uma
6. elisha
7. spears

I am getting married in the morning

ding dong the bells are gonna chime ...

ok that's the song from my fair lady but I AM getting married. The feeling is not sinking in and I am freaking out these days. But I suppose once the rituals start and I am among family I'll feel better.

anyways Srini tagged me.... 'and rohan will answer.' well, that's LOTR's dialog. ob I'll answer.may be I'll discover something abt me while doing so.

Ganguly got selected. THE END IS NEAR.

we are so close to the tape out. THE END IS NEAR.

Federar lost. ha. there is no END there.

18th Nov 2005

here comes the day. Can't miss the premiere. Can't miss the train. Can't miss the call. So what to do??? we'll see. I am not even sure if it's releasing on the same day here.

ok 6-1

well we came pretty close to 7-0. I couldn't watch a single match though so far. but I'll sure watch tomorrow's match.

I love my bike. not a popular one. hero honda ambition. the old model with the crown. In three years I have had absolutely no problems at all. It's always ready to rock. after reading fountainhead I feel like a resident of the dana building.

yes!!!

7-0

roark rocks.
domnique is oht.
didn't realize when toohey crossed over to the other side or was it me?
pity peter. why that sounds like pity us all?
couldn't figure out how to pronounce wynand and why didn't he commit suicide afterall.

The Fountainhead this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!

At last. Thanks a ton RA.

salaam namaste

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. this movie is, like Saif keeps saying all the time, CRAP. Why??, you can read a post by CC why-you-should-watch-salaam-namaste
only I didn't even like JJ. He just kept repeating himself. I was surprized to see Priety doing a Mallika in this movie. We sure are moving on. Happy Kissing dudes.

These days

I am calling and making new records all the time. Need to beat 4-1/2 hrs tonite.
I am homing every weekend. Had a 12 hrs bus journey last nite. first 4 in a typical 'khatara' bus and last in the last row in a deluxe bus. my neck pain is back.
I am hunting for new blogs to read. Anon lawyer's latest post table manners you should check out.
I am also hunting for a new house to rent. Anyone in NOIDA??
I am not sleeping. there are a thousand songs abt it.

ufff

gvim lesson learnt. don't use :se nopaste or you end up scratching your head why the paste is happening before the cursor.

movie on monday

iqbal is NOT a serious movie. it's quite funny. didn't feel bored for a second even though I watched it with fellow freescalers!!! great actors make great movies. and what a wonderful music. really builds on just like iqbal's game.

what's a bounty hunterI

Really I had no idea what it means but I made some assumptions that helped me understand the StarWars movies. Anyway I like this site wisegeek. simple clean and crisp answers. The layout is greenish very much like the fat lens site. Their search box shows results on the go!!! cool. Also the search results are shown with relavancy. Dunno how they calculate the % though. I mean how can a piece of software be 100% sure that the result he's giving is so relavant.

On the same site I found another interesting question.
what is a stapleless stapler

annother loong weeekend. This time I am staying home. No reading. Must kill Diabolo. Bahut time ho gaya. I started this time with a female character just to figure out will she be named Madam or Sir after she kills diabolo. well another reason was I wanted to play with bow and arrow. She can split a single arrow in multiple ones just like in the TV serials :-)

finally

never thought the day will come. the headless lady had way too much time on the front page.
the new look on yahoo mail front page

china daily

Thanks to Google News I landed at china daily's website. They claim to be one of the first online chinese news site. Anyway. I liked their news format. Unlike Japanese sites it wasn't overwhelmingly chinese. Just a lil here and there. Otherwise nice crisp news in english. With vocabulary of tough words in the end. Lovely idea . Also they put a news article about china-india relations on top of the big news of china-russia joint military excercise. funny.

Sharon weeps as distraught settlers leave Gaza

ah...aah

how did I miss this. no tamil albums in the planet M here. how do I get 'ah aah' now....

a new hope

"The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger,"


Crocodile blood may yield powerful new antibiotics

they are learning:

I believe indians are insensitive. at least north indians. they quarrel so very often.
Recently on my trip to home I was waiting for the train at the station when a book cart walla started to fight with an ice cream vendor for not giving him way. I mean people just love to fight. His opening sentence itself was to curse the other fellow.
When I reached home I took an auto. on the way autowala almost hit a jeep coming from the sideway. on the next red light my autowala got down and hit the jeep wala. right there on the spot. no questions asked. no reasoning.
Then later in the day we went for a picnic lil outside the town. on the road you'll find tons of cattle roaming around, cows and buffalos mostly. in the nite when we were returning I see a big crowd, a smashed car and some poor folks holding hankies to their head and chin etc. apparently they hit a cow. again I am sure there is no talking done. I was thankful religion didn't come into picture there otherwise you know what could happen.
khair kya karen. yahaan ka mausam hi aisa hai. logon ka moood kharab rahta hai. said one of the fellows.
so I was saying that we don't value fellow beings. that the other person is also a good human being and he must have some reason for goofing up. no. pata nahi kahaan kahaan se aa jate hain. jaat hi kharaab hai. what not I hear. even it's blamed on the states as we all know. ye sab bihaar men chalta hoga yahaan nahi. you'll hear at times. instead of finding a reason we love to invent one. grow up yaar. yahaan sab aise hi chalta hai. aakhir dil hai hindustaani.