Life After Death....

Could there be life after death?
And what life would it be?

Would it be controlled as we live it?
Or would it be carefree?

Would love actually matter then?
Or would it be the same like now; as n when?

Would peace at last find it's relevance?
Or would we still humiliate it's essence?

Would humanity be true to it's nature?
Or would it still be the hypocritical lie
Of hollow stature?

Would compassion remain to be the virtue of a few?
Or would it be the core of our being?

Would religion continue to be the ruler?
Or would emotions be the guide to actions and feelings?

Would vices still be judged?
Or would morality stop reigning?

Would happiness confirm it's place  within?
Or would the materialistic mask continue feigning?

Would death still be the supreme fear?
Or would life finally find it's meaning?

Could there be life after death?
Pray not like the one we are living....

Religion: I can't help but question...

As I sit with my hands folded and head bowed,

I cannot help but question the relevance of it all,

The hymns, the verses, this language of god,

Bloodied bodies and brandished swords,

Blind faith in the unseen,love for humanity a lost cause,

Dictated way of life,reason and logic a blasphemous thought,

A mirage of hope, eyes shut to reality,

Trust placed on a stone, the lust for immortality

An escape plan from miseries anguish and pain,

An attempt to evade life, ultimately lost in vain,

Following another's preaching, killing your inner call,

I cannot help but question the relevance of it all....

He Woke Up One Morning And..................

He woke up one morning and left it all,
The car, the job and money galore.....
Walked away into oblivion,
through winter and fall,
unaware of what he will now be living for.

Saying,

"This isn't what I want,
this life that I live, with lies
all around and pretentious happiness
of a world that constantly cribs.
This isn't what I want,
these set of rules, the life of a robot,
that runs on fuel.
This isn't what I want,
this constant stress, of either making it big
or living in distress.
This isn't what I want,
To be ruled by money, to either be rich and loved
or one day be told 'Goodbye Honey!"
This isn't what I want,
every night wanting to scream, fighting the suffocation
of living another's dreams.
This isn't what I want,
To die like this, living a life so empty,
with its essence amiss...."

When they asked:
"Do you know what you want??"

He said......

"No! I don't!"
 "I don't know what I want and I might never know,
But I do know what I don't want,
and that's enough for me to go.
So I wake up this morning,
to leave it all,
The car,the job and the money galore,
Walking away into oblivion,through winter and fall,
unaware of what I will now be living for........"

Fitrat.......

ज़िंदा रेह्ते हैं जिस ज़मीन के लिये बहाकर ख़ून ,

मर के  उसी मे मिल जाते हैं ,

एक पत्थर को पूजकर पाते हैं सुकून ,

पर इंसानों के साथ इंसानियत भूल जाते हैं ,

आगे  बढ़ने का होता है यों जूनून ,

कि  अपनों का भी दामन छोड़ जाते हैं ,

कैसी अजीब है इंसानो कि फितरत ,

अंजानी चाहतों के पीछे भागने मै मशगूल ,

ज़िन्दगी का हाथ थामे बिना ,

मौत कि बाहों मे झूल जाते हैं। 

AB AAGE BADHNE KO JI CHAHE....

पैरों मे  बंधी   बेड़ियों  को  तोड़ 

 अब  आगे  बढ़ने  को  जी   चाहे ,

टूटे  सपनों   को  जोड़

अब  आगे  बढ़ने  को  जी   चाहे ,

 छोड़  रीति  रीवाज़ों  की  डोर 

अब  आगे बढ़ने को  जी   चाहे ,

किस्मत  की  कलाई  को  मोड़

 अब आगे  बढ़ने  को  जी  चाहे,

भरने  उड़ान  आसमान  की  ओर 

अब  आगे  बढ़ने  को  जी  चाहे,

ढूँढने  कोई  नया  छोर 

अब आगे बढ़ने को जी चाहे,

औरों  के बनाए रास्तों पे चलती ज़िन्दगी  

को मनचाहा देकर मोड़

अब  आगे  बढ़ने  को जी चाहे,

पैरों मे बंधी  बेड़ियों को तोड़

अब आगे बढ़ने को जी चाहे।

Kahi se phir...............

कही से फिर रात काली चादर ओढ़े आई ,
फिर से सोए गम के बादलों ने ली अंगड़ाई ,
एक और बार सुहानी शाम का दामन छूटा,
कही से फिर एक छोटा सा अरमान टूटा,
फिर से दिल ने थोड़ी सी धड़कन बढाई,
एक और बार डर ने हौले से दस्तक लगाई,
कही से फिर ख्वाइशो मे लिपटा हौसला थोडा लडखडाया,
फिर से पलकों ने अधूरे सपनो की कुछ बूँदें बहाई,
एक और बार जब कोहरा चारो तरफ से उमड़ के आया,
फिर से उम्मीद ने अपनी लौ थोड़ी सी बुझाई ,
पर जब जब ज़िन्दगी ने खुद को इस अँधेरे में अकेला पाया,
आने वाली सुबह के ख्याल से,
कही से फिर होटों पे एक हलकी सी मुस्कान आई ......................

Boy Forced To Apologize At Gun Point In Mumbai : Are We Really As Safe??

Every time I have a Delhi vs Mumbai debate, my match winning point is SAFETY. Since years,  as a Mumbaikar I have taken great pride in the fact that 'The Maximum' City is one of the safest in the country.But a recent spate of incidences have drooped my shoulders a bit  " Go out at 3 am in Mumbai and you will still reach home safe" does not sound as convincing any more.
The gang rape of an 18 year old girl and the shooting of a journalist in broad day light are crimes that made  to the news papers, but there are some that never get reported. Like the incident that happened with a group of youngsters in the wee hours of the morning of 24th June. At around 12:45 am Friday June 24th, a group of five aged between 20 -22 (2 girls and 3 boys) were driving on the Andheri Link road en route Bandra when they were sharply overtaken by a Skoda. A potential accident was averted and as a reflex one of the boys showed his middle finger to the man behind the wheels of the other car. Suddenly the Skoda took a sharp turn and came to a halt right in front of the young group's car, the driver got out and asked the boys to step out of their car. Upon getting out, the boy who showed the middle finger was caught by the collar with a revolver pointing at him and told "Do you know who I am? Do you see this? Now show me that finger again!" After being abused and forced to apologize repeatedly at gun point, the boys were finally asked to leave. Too shaken to even inform the police, the boys just rushed home only to endure a sleepless night!
This incident gets me to question this' so called' sense of safety we believe in. Is it for real or is it just a mirage? The car's number plate was in Marathi and it proudly displayed a saffron flag,  clearly indicating that it belonged to the Government/Shiv Sena/MNS  or another Hindu fundamentalist outfit which gets me to my second question : If a government/political party's car carries goons, then should we not be ashamed of calling ourselves a 'safe city?'. The state of  law and order in  Bihar was labelled as ' Jungle Raj' because of similar reasons, people would roam on the streets with revolvers in their pockets and shoot at whim. Is that where Mumbai is heading? Not far is the day when Pakistan might turn back and say : Our 10 men did, what your own citizens do on a regular basis!

Mumbaikars are lauded for their resilience, but incidences like these make me wish we didn't have such good shock absorbers. This stray incident came to my notice, there might be many like these going completely unnoticed. Is this city of dreams really a place where you can dream fearlessly or is Mumbai becoming Delhi? It's time the Maharashtra government pulled up its socks and paid attention to more important things than playing snakes and ladders with the legal drinking age as Mumbai needs to save its reputation, and I as a proud Mumbaikar never want to loose the Mumbai vs another Indian city debate....EVER!! 

Tanu Weds Manu - And we have to endure it!!!!!

Only if every man was Manu, and no girl on this planet had even a hint of Tanu!’ Director Anand L Rai’s romantic comedy Tanu weds Manu celebrates ‘Arranged Marriages’ and so undoubtedly it will be liked. Because Indians love weddings and everything associated with weddings; the pomp, the show, the confusion, the emotions, jewellery, shopping, gaana bajana, basically the entire paraphernalia.
So, the story is not exclusive. In fact it’s a story written and told ever since movies were being made.

We will break it down in easy steps for you –
1. Boy – Shy, reserved, educated, docile, loner meets girl for arranged marriage falls in love
2. Girl – Brash, loud, extrovert, rebellious carefree loves another man asks the boy to buzz off
3. Boy – Continues to love her and bumps into her at a friends wedding
4. Girl – Starts liking the boy too but still loves the other man
5. Boy- Dejected, waits, waits and waits
6. Girl – Finally realizes she loves the boy, dumps the other man
7. Other man – Villain who in the end displays his humane side
8. Boy weds Girl and both live happily ever after

The End

Cliché? Well no one promised it would be any different. But there is something that sets Tanu weds Manu apart from the others of the same genre and that is the treatment of the film, the dialogues and some good performances. Despite some extremely melodramatic scenes the movie does manage to capture your interest till the end.
Madhavan as Manu, the shy introvert doctor from London is endearing tad over weight, yet that slight chubbiness makes his character seem more real. A normal middle class Indian male is seldom your quintessential ‘Greek God’, and therefore it is easier to relate Madhavan, to Manu your archetypal Indian good boy. Deepak Dobriyal who plays the role of Pappi, Manu’s best friend is outstanding. He is every bit the typical lad from western U.P, loud, brash, loyal and comical. Manu and Pappi together have given some extremely funny scenes. Tanu aka Kangan Ranaut is a fine actress but in urgent need of speech therapy, diction classes or simply tongue transplant! Despite her vivacity, her performance as the young, wild, rebellious Tanu fails to leave a mark. On the contrary, Swara Bhaskar who plays the role of her best friend, delivers a far better performance. She plays the role of a level headed Bihari girl with conviction, even getting the accent right. Jimmy Shergill as the pseudo villain Raja is passé, the hit and miss role did not demand the performance of a life time as it is. Though it is sad to see a talent like him gone waste.

In a nut shell Tanu weds Manu is a light film, with no social message or impact what so ever. There is nothing different about the film, in fact some scenes are so over the top that they end up being a little difficult to digest, if these little hitches are ignored, it still makes for an enjoyable experience. Watch it if you have a weekend to kill and are in mood for some mindless light entertainment.

 

Letter To A TITAN.............

Dear Mr Dhoni,

I am not  a cricket fanatic and never considered cricket to be a religion. The last world cup I followed was in the year 1996 when Ajay Jadeja had thrashed Waqar Yunis of Pakistan for four sixes in an over, but the defeat at Eden Gardens(Kolkatta) shattered a 13 year old's dreams of India winning the world cup. I was 13 then and I am 28 now, times changed, teams changed, matches were played but I was indifferent. Then came  a phase where there were a series of allegations  against the players  for fixing matches and that was the last nail in the coffin for me. According to me Indian Cricket did not deserve all the attention it got and the Indian cricketers were definitely not the Demi Gods they were made out to be. I could never understand why was cricket  equivalent to  religion in India, and could never fathom what was the 'Indian Cricket Mania' all about , until the night of 2nd April 2011! That fateful night answered all my questions and made me wish if it was possible to make cricket THE only religion in India.  That night I experienced euphoria,pride,patriotism,and  felt united with my country and its people like never before. Everywhere I looked I could sense similar emotions, it was as if a set of emotions were being passed through a xerox machine over and over again.. People from all walks of life belonging to diff religions,caste, creed and regions were celebrating being an INDIAN! For that moment no one was different, everyone was one, everything was one, the emotions,the tears of joy,the rapture,  was all one and it was all for one reason...INDIA! 2nd April made me realize what it means to win as a NATION!
I want to thank you and your army of eleven men for making a 28 year old woman feel as hopeful and innocently passionate as a 13 year old  girl again, for instilling a belief that not every man can be bribed, for making her realize why cricket is CRICKET in India, for giving 1.24 billion people a reason to forget their individual identities and unite as a country to celebrate, and for making the world get up and see that leaders indeed are made of a different metal altogether.
  I was not born when India won its Independence, but for me 2nd April 2011 was as close as I could get to feeling what those alive on 15th August 1947 would have felt. I want to  thank you for making me feel nothing else but just an INDIAN again!

Immense Respect
Mayuri Sinha

The World Through My Lens

SOLITUDE

FROM A BOY TO A MAN

CONQUESTS OF A YOUNG MIND

WHO SAYS WE CANT TOUCH THE SUN:)

ATYPICAL INDIAN STREET

MUMBAI AND FREEDOM

BRIDGE YOUR HEARTS SIMILARLY

LIFE IN A METRO

VANITY

BOOKS AND SPECS =INTELLIGENCE? PSEUDO:)

ITS BEHIND BARS FOR THEM PERPETUALLY

I LINK LAND VIA SEA

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE NOT A DROP TO DRINK

MARINE DRIVE AND THE SETTING SUN

WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING AT?

TOWN

IS THERE REALLY ANYTHING KNOWN AS HAUNTED OR IS IT JUST AS WE SEE IT

NATIONAL INTEGRATION

A RAY OF HOPE CAN BE FOUND ANYWHERE

Shah Rukh Bola Khubsoorat Hai Tu.....and she believed it......I Guess Only She And The Director Believed It!

 Somebody please tell me Makrand Deshpande was suffering from chronic alcoholism while making this movie, because that would be the sole reason I would cut him some slack.

The only reason my heart,head and feet agreed to watch SRKBTKH (the abbreviation would give Karan Johar a complex) was because it was directed by Makrand Deshpande . A renowned theater actor/director, some of his plays have been quite exemplary and therefore I got lured into believing that his film would follow suit. But alas, i was in for huge disappointment. Because the movie was not just bad it was VERY BAD!

So, picture this : I reach the ticket counter and when I start saying the name of the movie, it takes me two minutes to finally say the full name followed by a smirk from the guy selling the ticket. That was my first cue, that i should just turn and run but then the movie buff in me said ” What would this fool sitting behind the counter know about cinema anyway, he s dismissing it just because the movie has a funny name! ” So, I took the ticket and went inside the theater where I got my second cue : The theater had just three people including me! But again the eternal optimist in me said “Most of the people would not watch it because it is a small budget film, and not as hyped” and so I sat on my seat awaiting a treat in the name of cinema. Instead what I got was a cinema aficionado’s nightmare. After the first fifteen minutes the only reason I sat through the entire movie was because as a’ responsible movie buff’, I had to write this review to prevent my compatriots from making the same mistake.

The movie is the story of Laali ( Preetika) who lives in a shanty in Mumbai and sells flowers at the traffic signals for a living. One day Laali bumps into Shah Rukh Khan at one of the signals and he tells her that she is beautiful. This one compliment brings about an entire paradigm shift in her life. She starts ignoring he ex flame John, who in turn is being ardently pursued by Champa, the local prostitute. But John loves Laali and Laali post the compliment becomes as staunch a devotee of Shah Rukh Khan as Meera was of Lord Krishna. She starts treating SRK as god, and has this belief that he would save her from any adversity in life. In between all of this there is a small time ‘bhai’ (Makrand Deshpandey) who tries to force John to marry Champa ( the prostitute) and a journalist who wants to make a story on Laali’s life. If I were to draw parallels between SBKHT and another movie I’d say it is the most skewed version of Devdas, with Paro becoming the ‘Devdasi’ of SRK and chandramukhi (champa) trying to kill Paro to win Devdas’s (John) affection

In a nut shell, the  movie is about the effect of cinema and  film stars on the lives of small timers. It tries to explore the psyche of  your archetypal bollywood fan who keeps his favourite movie star next to and at times even at par with god. Interesting perspective I agree, but the treatment is completely flawed. Considering the fact that it is a small budget film, I was not expecting brilliant cinematography or out of the world camera work but  i was expecting  a gripping narration, crisp editing, display of some brilliant performances and a lot of depth and substance. Unfortunately, I got none. The acting was below average, Laali at times seems too polished to be a flower seller living in the slums of Mumbai, John her lover has a constant dead pan expression on his face and Champa the prostitute is far too over the top. Makrand Deshpande paints a dismal picture as the local ‘BHAI’. Rather than looking macho he looks funny, especially the fight sequences. Never in the history of Indian or World cinema has a quintessential ‘bhai’ been so scrawny,and it is funny and highly unrealistic to watch him beat up four men at a time. The narration is weak and does not follow a thread, by the end of it you wonder what was the director trying to do? and one of the reasons the narration seemed poor was bad editing. The editing made the movie  jerky and rough most of times and at times too slow. That explains why I slept off in the middle for ten minutes or so. In my opinion Makrand Deshpanday faltered because he tried to incorporate everything into one film, he tried to make it meaningful and realistic with all the commercial flavours induced. The result quite obviously was a complete hotchpotch. What could have been made into an outstanding film, turned out to be a director’s feeble and disastrous attempt at trying to make meaningful cinema.

Despite the movie being a disaster, the entire experience did teach me a few things.

a) If the guy at the ticket counter of a movie theaters smirks when you take the movies name: Without batting an eyelid go for another movie, this one is surely disastrous.

b) If there are few people in the theater to watch a film, it is not because the ones who decided to skip it are foolish, on the contrary the ones who have decided to see it are!

c) Every small budget film is not good and therefore need not be promoted only because it is small and needs to be encouraged.

d) Reviewing movies is not such a cool job after all, enduring a bad film just because you have to review it can be as bad as getting tortured by the Japanese.

Despite my warnings and sharing of my learnings if you still decide to give this movie a shot, then please do review it as well. I’d love to read it!

Those Kind Wrinkled Eyes

As a child,
when drawn deep into my thoughts,

post a gloomy day,

introspecting on life ,

and its anomalous ways,

head cast down,

feeling an abstruse load bear upon my spine

I would slowly look up,

and a gaze accosted mine,

tender yet wise,

affectionate sans any vice,

suddenly my face,

would break into a smile,

as I looked into, those kind wrinkled eyes.

They seemed to,

tell a story,

of the times gone by,

the saga of a lifetime,

concealed from you and I,

narrating countless memoirs,

of life's short spells,

small spurts of happiness,

followed by afflictions from hell.

That gaze spelled naivete,

of an innocent child,

the passion, hunger and zest,

of youth gone wild.

exuding strength acquired

 through years of toil,

maturity inducing calmness,

under circumstances that make,

young blood boil.

Those eyes were pools of sapience,

wisdom,

no book can teach,

attained through life's experiences ,

and not from what saints preach.

an expression,

begging forgiveness

for all acts of vice,

in turn sending a message:

nothing is forever nice.

They were the gateway to a journey,

an odyssey called life,

to be lived and revered

in moments,

of both harmony or strife.

those gates

closed one day,

never to open again,

leaving me with an ironical feeling,

of immense loss,

and unparalleled gain.

Today,

when drawn deep into my thoughts

post a gloomy day,

introspecting on life ,

and its anomalous ways,

head cast down,

feeling an abstruse load bear upon my spine,

I still look up,

with the hope of finding that gaze accosting mine,

its absence forms tears,

at the corner of my eyes,

but a feeling in my heart,

breaks my face into ,

a smile.

A feeling that seems to say,

that someday in someway,

my gaze would also break a face into a smile,

help it shed its worries,

atleast for a while,

impart eternal wisdom,

sans verbal advice,

and to that someone,

I would be,

Those kind wrinkled eyes.

I SUPPORT THIS CAUSE.......AND I HOPE YOU ALL DO AS WELL!

When My Camera Went CLICK!:)

A TYPICAL DAY

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

RED GIANT

DROPS AND DREAMS

THE CLOCK TOWER

IMPERIAL

HAIL  DEMOCRACY

HAJI ALI -MUMBAI

REMENANTS OF THE RAJ

MY CITY AT NIGHT: LOOKS LIKE A BRIDE

PSYCHEDYLLIC

CHAWL WITH A STATEMENT AND SATTELITE:)

POST CARDS FROM MUMBAI

AH! HELLO!!

LIFELINE

PICTURE OF A COLOURLESS LIFE

VERSION OF THE TAJ

FREEDOM AND LAND....I CHOOSE FREEDOM:)

I WAS IMPORTANT TOO ONCE UPON A TIME