The Ra.One Puzzle!

Ok... So let's take it from the top! First of all, I'm not a die hard SRK fan! I find his movies, pleasant, amusing at times and sometimes plain nonsense! I loved Swadesh and Paheli, I found Main Hoon Naa total masala-op-corn flick and Om Shanti Om dumb! But what's with the commotion that's surrounding Ra.One?

The guy spends 135 crores to make a movie and the entire world is hell bent on spewing venom!!! For what? That the guy spent 135 crore? Let him! It's his money! But what is most interesting is the manner in everyone is behaving! I find morphed pictures of SRK in a Ra.One costume being held by Rajnikant, SRK as a beggar, SRK as a bodyguard and what not. But the latest one is a pure gem! It shows Ra.One and another pic of a goat titled Bak.Ra.One! That doesn't even make sense! But to hell with sense as long as you can take a cheap shot at the guy!

Now I can understand why one can dislike or even hate a movie! There is no story! Agreed! Word of mouth is a powerful thing and trust me, that has trashed the movie enough already! Out of my entire group of friends only one liked Ra.One, that too she is in US! So technically no one 'loved' it per se here in India! Yet surprisingly most people mouthing off obscenities against him haven't even seen the movie? Why do people so desperately and eagerly want the movie to fail? For SRK to go bankrupt or him to suffer?

Is it because his film is not an artistic gem? He never claimed it will be. Is it that it lacks a story? Trust me the past three biggest hits in Bollywood (Salman's Dabangg, Ready and Bodyguard) had no story either! So what is it that makes people so happy if he fails? You know, the world derives pleasure out of a fallen angel. We want the heroes to fail, to appear human, mortal. We want them brought down. To our level.

Think about it! What happened with Michael Schumacher? Hell, F1 had to change it's entire set of rules to ensure he doesn't win anymore! 'Cos his winning every time made the sport mundane, predictable, boring! So they made an entire new set of rules especially to ensure he doesn't win!

What happened with Roger Federer? He kept winning, people started talking about the greatest player ever in tennis and then suddenly people started baying for his blood! They supported Nadal, Djokovic, Safin and every other abc guy, as long as he could match up to Federer!

There is a thing about being the number one! People want you to fail! No one likes a steady number one! That makes everything boring. Everything predictable. Everything regular! You want the change, the difference, the not-so-regular stuff! Poor SRK is suffering from the same thing! He never claimed this movie is a path breaking, larger than life picture that will assume cult status!Yet the vitriol against it is simply amazing!

Many hate SRK simply because he is an entertainer compared to being a superb actor (not that he is not, but he prefers to entertain). Contrast this with the legendary Rajnikant! Are all his movies path breaking in terms of acting? No! Are all of them entertaining? Hell yeah! Is he a superstar? Hell ya! Is Rajnikant not a good actor? Hell no! He is a superb actor! But he prefers to entertain! Same is SRK!

What makes this entire exercise even more interesting is the public reaction! If you don't like a movie, don't go to watch it! If u didn't like it after the show, don't discuss it! Simply ignore it! But nooooooooooo!!! People want to trash it, curse the movie, the actor, the entire cast! You hate something, you know whats the best thing to do? Ignore it completely! I don't hate the saas-bahu soaps 'cos I simply don't care! You are averse to something then ignore it totally! Don't keep watching it and then grumble like a stupid kid!

If you don't like Ra.One, don't go and watch it! If you have seen it and didn't like it, then completely ignore it, but just don't be acerbic 'cos you are malicious! It speaks more about you than SRK!

Watch or don't watch the movie, but accept the fact that the guy had guts to try something different! Fight Club (the English one) failed miserably before becoming a cult movie!

So go watch the movie or don't watch the movie, just don't wish for someone's failure simply because you hate that he is number one!

Ciao!

PDAs and their ilk..

Now before you bedazzle your mind with the idea of now defunct Personal Digital Assistants, let me be clear here... I am talking about Public Display of Affection.

Now I, per se, am not against PDAs. I don't think people who indulge in it should be chided or banned or retaliated to against. I believe in a very open and tolerant society, one which should allow the freedom and independence to any individual, or for that matter people, to engage in any activity which they deem appropriate for themselves without harming or injuring any other person. The rules regarding morality are pretty murky here 'cos for some even holding hands is appalling. So to each his/ her own with a dab of tolerance.

However, I digress here. The main idea of posting this was to delve a little into the psyche of the people involved. Why exactly do people indulge in PDAs?

Some say"It is a celebration of our love and affection". Naysayers say, "Well take it in a room"!

Few others say, "It was just heat of the moment". The cynics retaliate again by saying, "Well today you have no control over your emotions, tomorrow you'll be unrestrained and egregiously salacious".

A small bunch clamours "You single and old people are just jealous because we have so much chemistry and heat between us and you people stink" The skeptics counter by saying "Oh common, you people are just what's wrong with the society. There is no difference between animals and humans now. Making out in public! The sight!"

A small percentage also says "Well if it affects you so much, stop staring like a rabid and hungry wolf. Mind your own business". The agnostics riposte "You people are corrupting the moral fibre of this country. Following the western world and imitating them blindly, destroying the culture and traditions of this great country".

Now who do you support? I for one would like to dabble in bit of each remark.

First of all. The celebration of love! Ah! The beautiful word-LOVE. But is it necessary to actually show it to everyone? I mean if you wish to celebrate you do it for yourself right? Or is it like the Independence day parade where one has to march her wares to show the world that one has arrived? If one wishes to celebrate, get engaged! You can proudly show off to the world then that you are two mushy mushy love birds. But hey, wait a second. Even married couples seldom engage in PDAs. Or may be I don't have an exact peer group of recently married people, but then I haven't witnessed the married engage in PDA. May be for them it's a more intimate emotion. But then, is it a 'show-off' factor to the public? No idea! More often than not, in a society which is tolerant, one would accept PDA to an extent. But then when one is in a group of mutual friends, engaging in PDA is, simply, outrageous to say the least!

Now on to the "heat of the moment" stuff. Well, honestly sometimes you do get carried away. Heat of the moment is actually quite acceptable. But then, that's exactly why it's called heat of 'the' moment! It's not a "heat of the fucking entire month"! It's ok, if a new couple once in a while, gets carried away. We all understand love and it's mysterious ways (sometimes its not even love. Its just lust). Everyone understands this; what everyone or for that matter, I don't understand is: Why does a couple have to engage in PDA day after day, every time you are in a get together! Be it an online chat, a discussion forum or anywhere else. Get a personal chat, for crying out loud!! You wanna engage in a little naughtiness, excuse yourself from the group, jostle to the nearest room and grope the living day lights out of each other! Just don't make a public spectacle of it! Especially if you are in a group of not so close friends, and acquaintances or people whom you are meeting after ages, self restrain is prime! I mean, if all you had to do was grope each other physically or verbally, get a room! or a chat room!!! Phew! PDAs do not, and I repeat this emphatically again, DO NOT make you cool.

Let us now explore the third and oft repeated line: You are jealous of our love and chemistry and oppose only because you are single. Single and old? Yes, most of the people masquerading as the moral police opposing jeans for girls to bashing out couples in the park are generally single and old with no other job! But common, jealousy? Seriously? I mean single people, may be, find PDAs objectionable not because they are jealous but because its kinda embarrassing when you are at a side walk or in a party and the couple next to you is going to town with each other, moaning and grunting. Plain embarrassing! As for the cynic's comment that making out in public is like animals. I totally resent that statement. You wanna oppose PDA, come up with a better excuse! As for comparison with animals. Trust me! Humans do way more nasty stuff to each other than animals! At least animals don't burn their own for dowry, and what not! Let's not even go there!!

Now to the comment to not stare like a ravenous wolf! I agree to this for a change! If there is a couple making out in a club in the corner or a couple groping each other up in the darkness of a discotheque, let them be! Stop staring like your jaw is gonna drop like a mad hyena's! And if you are so desperate to stare and watch, for God's sake rent a porno! But don't stare like a despo! Some say, it is our right to stare since they are doing it in public! This is not wrong! If they don't want others to stare they should go away! I say, well if you weren't this desperate you would probably have a partner as well so that you could engage in all that you see!! But no! Some are simply not open minded enough! Stop staring people! Stop staring at a couple who holds hands, stop staring at a gal with a tight fitting top, stop staring at a gal with a fitting low waist jeans! And most importantly, stop staring at a gal with the hungry despo eyes! Period! Mind your own fucking business!

PDAs are cute! PDAs are endearing. PDAs are to show off that you have 'arrived'. May be just to the couple indulging in one. It night very well be nauseating to others as well. Tolerant as we are, we have yet to accept PDAs completely. At least looking away or not staring is not everyone's cup of tea; not yet! Tolerance is still an alien thing. But more on that later.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Friends: Childhood friends, school friends, college friends, office friends (oops colleagues), Facebook friends, G+ friends, Twitter friends, LinkedIn friends, foursquare friends, close friends, casual friends, timepass friends, JLT friends, chat friends, sms friends, just hi-hello friends, best friends.

As a child growing up in a small city with the dream of the entire world on his mind and a zillion other aspirations I pause today to think at 3:00am in the morning. What happened to that just one word: Friends! When did it get so many ramifications? When did it lose its meaning? Back in during kindergarten days it was just friends or not friends; friendship was never so complicated, never such a challenge.

Today organizing a get together of friends involves a series of events: Chain mails, suggestions, rejections, venue, time, place, date, then rejections, modifications, alterations, rants, complains, a bit if bitching moaning and some more ranting and finally after a week or two, if lucky, a meeting place, time and venue was decided! Bear in mind that this chain mail was still privy to a few! An invitation only get together! Whatever happened to the good old days when a single yell could bring out an army of people good enough to form two soccer teams? It still amazes me to think how could we back in our school days manage to get everyone assemble at one time without as much as a cellphone or an sms!

And why all this today? Thanks to an intense and mindlessly numbing weekend trying to gather and make sense of the wreck of some of my friends. SO why do people fight and misunderstand each other when they say that they care for each other so much? Is it too much to ask some one for an emotional support? Is it too much is you want some one to be a better person than (s)he is now? Is it wrong to pretend to be someone else so that the other could be happy? Answers differ according to the sides you listen to!

I have been told that it's not too much if you ask a friend to be your emotional support! After all (s)he is YOUR friend! But then if (s)he is actually your friend, you would never have to actually ASK him/her in the first place! Friendship comes naturally! It's not a forced agenda or a feeling that you can shove down one's throat! But then is it wrong to expect one of your closest friend to be there for you emotionally? Nope it is not! Expect! But then don't assume it IS going to happen! (s)he might not be there! 'Cos if (s)he had to (s)he would!

Is is wrong if you want your best friend to be a better person that (s)he is right now? Oooooo!! Tricky question! How do you define better? What is better? What is correct for Paul may not be right for Peter! You don't go around changing friends because you think that they can or will be  better! If that's the case find out the changed person and not try to find a person and change it to that! But then should one put on a mask to make the other friend  happy? Again tricky! Does that mask make you feel happy too? "Yeah why not", "well, may be", "err.. what the hell..ya": these are just some of the answers that might lead you to an eventual hell. Do NOT do what you are not comfortable with 'cos sooner or later it's gonna come back and bit you right on your ass!

As for me! Do I have friends? Hell ya! Of all the mentioned categories? Well ya! Am I proud of it? That's not even a relevant question!

Today if I want to text a friend at 4:00am in the morning and want him/her to reply.. will I succeed? Well probably or probably not! That's where I feel is the void! And unfortunately, even after having a zillion categories of friends not, I do NOT actually have that void filled in!

Facebook, nope you're still not there!

Old school still rules!

Au revoir!

Ghum

kya shikayat karun main unki jinki mohabbat ne hume yun bezaar kara...


kya shikayat karun main unki jinki mohabbat ne hume yun bezaar kara...


gustaakh toh hum he the jo unhe dil de baithe..

Life!

WHAT is this life if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.



-W.H.Davies