DREAMS IN THE DUSK

Dreams in the dusk,
Only dreams closing the day
And with the day’s close going back
To the gray things, the dark things,
The far, deep things of dreamland.

Dreams, only dreams in the dusk,
Only the old remembered pictures
Of lost days when the day’s loss
Wrote in tears the heart’s loss.

Tears and loss and broken dreams
May find your heart at dusk.

SHADOW IN THE DARK

I’m a shadow in the dark
The quintessential sound of death
I’m a shadow in the dark
Like the reaper’s icy breath

I’m a statue set in stone
In apathetic sleep
Let the world just pass me by
And I will never weep

I’m a shadow in the dark
The quintessential sound of death
I’m a shadow in the dark
Like the reaper’s icy breath

You don’t have to set me free
You don’t have to light my night
You don’t have to feel my breath
Or step into my line of sight
For I’m a shadow in the dark
You know I’m there but you can’t see
I’m a shadow in the dark
You pass me by, and leave me be.

....SILENCE....

Here we are walking
yet not talking,
silence silence.

we've grown apart
yet here we are walking,
but not talking


we are together
yet far apart
silence silence


I watch our shadows
with a sour look
slipping farther apart


This cannot be
what happened to
you and me
silence silence


Silence silence everywhere
................ because we have nothing more to share!

PERFECT...........

Remembering the times you were

Of your own kind in deep despair,

And thinking life is never fair…

With pain and anguish felt.

When others on you their ways impressed,

Your self-esteem was sore suppressed,

Through shame and guilt… t’was never blessed…

Perfect within yourself.


In childhood’s stormy seas you lost

Your innocence, your dreams were tossed

Upon the rocks, you count the cost…

In loneliness you dwelt.

Still struggling to stem the tears,

The consequence of former years,

Sad memories shape the future fears…

Perfect within yourself.



If troubled times with you abound,

And advice from others you have found

Your conflicts even more confound…

Under pressure you had knelt.

Though shame may leave you feeling weak,

Whatever comforts you may seek,

Remember that the strong are meek…

Perfect within yourself.



Perchance that you attempt to find

A calmer, restful, tranquil mind,

And contentment of the lasting kind…

The icy burden melt.

To reach fulfilment you must deign

To recover loss and banish pain.

Just look inside yourself again…

Perfect within yourself.



Whatever reasons you intend

For injustice to amend,

Let hope eternal be your friend…

And inspiration felt.

Unleash those actions you require

To bring about what you desire,

Make known, that others you inspire…

Perfect within yourself.



You are the sum of what you do,

Yet, to be the perfect you,

Always to yourself be true…

Whatever hand is dealt.

To shine as bright as the brightest star,

You do not need to look that far.

You are perfect as you are…

Perfect within yourself.

DARKNESS.......

Me and the darkness have been constant companions

Ever since I can remember.

Neither friends, nor bosom buddies.

It is just that we have always been together.

I do not fear the dark…I respect it.

I know of its misrepresentations…

The dark cellar…

The dark of night…

My dark skin…

Dark moments…

The traumatic and negative elements of my life.



But I have also used the darkness.

I have hidden away in the darkness…

Sheltered in its shadows…

Reflected in the darkest moments…

Celebrated the darkness of my skin colour.

Is a petal on a flower any different,

Just because you cannot see the colour in the dark?



I know what the darkness can do…

The hold it can have over people…

The fear they can have for it…

But the darkness holds no fear for me.

It is just there…I am used to it…

Habituated to it…

Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable in it.

Me and the darkness…

Our journeys are together set …forever.

We will always be unwilling bedfellows…

But we will always be inseparable.

DESPAIR....

Definition of despair:

Someone's mind beyond repair?

A wilful creak on the stair

And a fly trapped in a spider's lair,

Torments of the child - alone

With the angry ringing telephone,

Echoes crash from the mockery stone:

Nanny's voice in the nursery tone

Brings cold comfort and order,

Stilling the anguished recorder:

"Child still!" Without a border,

Haunted by a watching warder.

REVIEW- CHAK DE INDIA

let me start by saying that director shimit amin sells us a dream that none of us would hesitate buying!i had initially hesistated to go for this film since i am not exactly a great fan of SRK but i must say that this is the 1st time that SRK has not disappointed my with his "overacting".
this film has its share of cliches in place and the the script is not really something one would say "out-of this-world" but its the sheer way that its presented that makes us remain glued to our seats.even before u reach the theatres its a foregone conclusion that this team would at the end win the world cup,but it is amazing how the director captures our imagination and makes us eagerly wait to witness the climax which was still,very predictable!
"komal" "balbir" are brilliant as they do full justice to their respective characters, but my favourite girl in the team would be "bindya naik".she has beautifully portrayed the "senior player's ego issue" which is found in every sports team in any corner of this world.
the film not only throws light on the deplorable condition of women's hockey in india but sports in general-lack of good up-to-date coaching techniques,lack of infrastructure,lack of funding in sports other than cricket,and the general attitude of the people towards sports which cannot in india atleast give one a lucrative career no matter how much talent is present!
there have been very few films which hav tried to please both the classes and the masses and this film is really one of them.its like one of those hollywood classical films which is so smoothe that when u sit to watch it u simply consume it as a product without giving much attention to its techie details!

FOR HE CONTINUES TO BE AN ENIGMA........

she has always thot that she knew herself too well........but on dat nyt she was proved wrong.......she lay der in her bed,turning every now n then.....to release d uneasiness dat surrounded her........she felt amazed at the thot!

she was missing him......some1 she had always liked bt neva missed much, in the few years that they had known each odr..........she continued with her thots........she thot about everything connected with him........the more she tried to think rationally,the more she was lost in the huge thotmaze wic had trapped her dat nyt...........

she could not find answers to several Q and she desperately searched for them in d dark of the nyt..........she felt a void within......something dat could only b filled up by the presence of the man whom she calls ~enigma~

there was silence everywhere as usual dat nyt...........but there were a 100 voices running up and down the stairs of her mind......it was chaotic up there.........it was occasionally broken by her whimper......it was a feeling she could not even dare share with any1.........for it was a feeling every1 wud misjudge..........

he will segue to be an enigma as long as he remains n her life..............

STREET-SPEAK

it has been less than 3 months since i left SXC and hence left walking every morning on the paths of park street..............it was a strange feeling i underwent every morning as i treaded along park st.......and this is completely opposed to what i feel when everyday i walk thru college st......

i felt as if the ppl,the streets,the shops,every1 wanted 2 turn their backs on me..........as if they wanted to shut themselves up in a room n remian aloof from the mainstream society........as if they had enough of all worldly pleasures and were satisfied......the glassdoors n windows of every shop was an ugly reminder of the difference to which we all were witnesses.......

and.......when i walk along colg st..........it is.....as if the streets scream in their bid to reach out to the world..........scream 2 draw ur attention towards the horrifying realities of life.......towards which every1 wants to turn a blind eye...........

the walk thru d CMC compound reminds me of the xtreme helplessness to wic ppl can be driven to........the walk along the pavements where 100s of families reside in dreadful living conditions.......the greatest irony is perhaps outside the central metro stn-----------

as soon as one cums out of the stn there is the FAMILY WELFARE WARD of CMC.......n lined up beside it are 100s of families..........evidently welfare has not even met them once in life! and then there is CMC wic one wud obviously think to be some junkyard.........where hygiene should be the most essential factor......it ranks last or may b doesnt appear in the priority list!

may be dats y wen calcutta is to portrayed in a film or a book---------it is dis calcutta wic we always get to see...........

....INSIDE ME.....

So lost deep inside,

Is all that makes me.

My true identity, Is hard to see.

To my friends and family,

I’m a different me.

I have a secret identity,

Wonder if you’ll ever see.

My thoughts and actions,

Are all that makes me,

But some things I may do,

May not describe me.

Now look inside me,

If you ever feel, like it,

I’m no-one but me,

Never hiding my identity.

Don’t say I am hypocrisy,

Because I never showed you, two of me.

Now please, Look at me,

Try to see the real me.

I’m no-one but, my real identity.

All full of beauty, Inside me.

.........BLUE...........

BLUE Desires illuminate my mind

BLUE fragrances mesmorize my impulses

impulses, which drive me wild,

put me in a trance everytime i am with you.

BLUE Clouds keep me in a daze

looking at the sky I can see the outline of your face

in those clouds I feel purely divine intervention

just the mention of your name

BLUE Flowers all around me

I just love it .....Sensuality

Can you believe the color BLUE

can make me feel closer to you

gets me that way

Do you see the color BLUE,

when you look at me too?

.......RED........

Red Red River runs down my arm

Red Red River slowly drips onto my bed

Red Red River stains my sheets

Red Red River scars my skin

Red Red River hurts

Red Red River creates the tears in my eyes

Red Red River carries my painful emotions

Red Red River knows my deep dark secrets

Red Red River helps me with my problems

Or so I tell myself

THOUGHT BUBBLE-12

If the mind, that rules the body,

ever so far forgets itself as to trample on its slave,

the slave is never generous enough to forgive the injury,

but will rise and smite the oppressor.

The dog stopped barking and the kids have gone to bed,

but my mind has a lot to talk about and it knows I can't pretend am not at home.

The mind I love must have wild places,

a tangled orchard where dark damsons drop in the heavy grass,

an overgrown little wood, the chance of a snake or two,

a pool that nobody's fathomed the depth of, & paths threaded with flowers planted by the mind.

THOUGHT BUBBLE-11

The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other.

It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity,

but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich.

Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied...but written off as trash.

The twentieth-century consumer economy has produced the first culture for which a beggar is a reminder of nothing.

We have grown literally afraid to be poor.

We despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner life.

If he does not join the general scramble and pant with the money-making street, we deem him spiritless and lacking in ambition.

THOUGHT BUBBLE-10

Every man alone is sincere.
At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins.
We parry and fend the approach of our fellow-man by compliments, by gossip, by amusements, by affairs.
We cover up our thought from him under a hundred folds.
The hypocrite's crime is that he bears false witness against himself.
What makes it so plausible to assume that hypocrisy is the vice of vices is that integrity can indeed exist under the cover of all other vices except this one.
Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil;
but only the hypocrite is really rotten to the core.

THOUGHT BUBBLE-9

There are days when solitude is a heady wine that intoxicates you with
freedom,

others when it is a bitter tonic,

and still others when it is a poison that makes you beat your head against the wall.

The great omission in life is solitude;

not loneliness, for this is an alienation that thrives most in the midst of crowds,

but that zone of time and space,

free from the outside pressures,

which is the incubator of the spirit.

THOUGHT BUBBLE-8

The departure of our boys to foreign parts with the ever-present possibility that they might never return,

taught the real value of photography to every father and mother.

To many a mother the photograph of her boy in his country's uniform was the one never-failing consolation.

It's weird that photographers spend years or even a whole lifetime, trying to capture moments that added together, don't even amount to a couple of hours.

THOUGHT BUBBLE-7

The creative person is more primitive and more cultivated, more destructive, a lot madder,

and a lot saner, than the average person.

I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells.

Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living,

it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.

Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.

THOUGHT BUBBLE-6

To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature.

Most persons do not see the sun.

At least they have a very superficial seeing.

The sun illuminates only the eye of the man,

but shines into the eye and heart of the child.

The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other;

who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.

THOUGHT BUBBLE-5

History shows that there is nothing so easy to enslave and nothing so hard to emancipate as ignorance,

hence it becomes the double enemy of civilization.

By its servility it is the prey of tyranny,

and by its credulity it is the foe of enlightenment.

THOUGHT BUBBLE-4

One summer night, out on a flat headland,

all but surrounded by the waters of the bay,

the horizons were remote and distant rims on the edge of space.

Millions of stars blazed in darkness,

and on the far shore a few lights burned in cottages.

Otherwise there was no reminder of human life.

My companion and I were alone with the stars:

the misty river of the Milky Way flowing across the sky,

the patterns of the constellations standing out bright and clear,

a blazing planet low on the horizon.

It occurred to me that if this were a sight that could be seen only once in a century,

this little headland would be thronged with spectators.

But it can be see many scores of nights in any year,

and so the lights burned in the cottages and the inhabitants probably gave not a thought to the
beauty overhead;

and because they could see it almost any night,

perhaps they never will.

THOUGHT BUBBLE-3

Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language,

and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying.

The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things,

and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things.


To find the universal elements enough;

to find the air and the water exhilarating;

to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter...

to be thrilled by the stars at night;

to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring

- these are some of the rewards of the simple life.

REVIEW-----ONURONON[THE NEW EASTERN HIMALAYAN PEAK]

Nooooo i am not gonna tell u d story------hold on! Coz there was no storyline [linear/non-linear] which i could decipher.Instead i want to ask a few Q!

Why do the posters of the film depict d Himalayas as the backdrop of the film when the film has only about 10 mins of footage shot there?

Does Rituparna really have that precious mole rt in front of her nose or thats artificial? [Whateva it is its really disturbing! I kinda kept staring at that throughout the entire length and breadth of the film]

Why have Rahul Bose and Rituparna acted in a typically amateurish manner--------u can neidr sympathize vid a childless couple nor empathize-----afta a pt of tym u simply wanna Q der acting skills !!!!!!


Why does Rahul keep on recording some tit-bits 2 dress up as just anodr BONG ANTEL? [and o god what Bengali accent !]

Why does RAIMA dance at night in a loosely clad night-robe when Rajat [d dull n boring n sooooo unromantic guy who is not interested in her LORETO COLLEGE educated intellectual wife] refrain from having sex?

Why does Rahul draw scenic sketches w/o any measurements [hiz an architect here] for his hotel -building project?? Aint architects supposed to draw their stuff vid accurate and precise measures???


CONCLUDING REMARKS---------- the lil chink kidz d best part of the film coz he kept his big mouth shut [and i think he refused to speak else he would also been branded as one ANTEL------seems hiz pretty conscious of letting down the prestige of his "chinky colony"] and i still wonder why was Rahul on the Himalayas again afta his death?? Is dat some kinda novel means to escape d foreseen controversy over the issue of his spending a night vid his frenz wife??? the funniest part is one half of each couple go n spend a night 2gedr in a hotel [but in separate rooms ofcos!] to xperience the beauty of the Himalayas in a moonlit night------and the following morning Rahul dies,cause?? well the director simply sites none! I guess he felt nothing was going right in his movie and probably at that pt of time everybody in the audience would have been eager for a loo-trip------so that was basically to postpone d loo-trip and make everybody feel that something has finally happened in his movie!

REVIEW------AAP KA SUROOR [DIS IS 4 PURE FUN]

The film directed by Prashant Chadha stars Himesh as himself, a singing sensation from India who's currently in Germany on a concert tour.While in Germany, Himesh is accused of murdering a television journalist and as a result, he is arrested by the local police. Meanwhile, he's also fallen for a pretty young girl who’s handling his events schedule, and surprise surprise, she seems to return the sentiment.

But now that he's been charged with murder, her daddy won't allow her to have anything to do with this singing-dancing criminal. For Himesh, or HR as he's affectionately referred to in the film, there's only one thing left to do: he must prove his innocence, and win back his ladylove.

The problem with Aap Kaa Surroor is that it takes itself way too seriously. And that's a problem because you and me and everyone in the audience isn't exactly taking this film too seriously.

I think we see this film as the result of one man's misplaced sense of self-importance, even as an indulgence on the part of Himesh. Which is why it's absolutely hilarious to see him all shaven chest, dressed in shirts with plunging necklines, serenading the heroine like a 21-year-old chocolate hero.

That scene in which he meets the heroine for the first time will go down in film history as one of the stupidest boy-meets-girl scenes.

Never before has the Gayatri Mantra been used more inappropriately than in Aap Kaa Surroor, in which it's used as background score, a mobile ringtone, and even a pop tune that Himesh belts out on his guitar.

All blame for this nonsense must be directed towards the screenplay which is cliched, unimaginative and amateurish to say the least. When the writers can't come up with an original enough idea to show why the heroine starts falling for Himesh, they shamelessly throw in a little orphan girl with a terminal illness, who Himesh predictably treats like an angel.

As for that scene in which the heroine says she's the luckiest girl in the world because she's managed to take a picture of Himesh flashing his elusive smile, I have to say it's more a gaping-mouthed jackass-like laughter which is now captured on camera for posterity.

Alas, as entertainingly idiotic this film is, it's still not entertaining enough to forgive it all its faults. We're led to believe that this television journalist showed up at Himesh's door seeking an interview, while all along she was performing a sting operation on him.

My very simple question to the writers of the film: why was she conducting a sting operation on him? We've been given no reason to believe he's a Shakti Kapoor-kind of lech who was waiting to be trapped.

Also, isn't it a little too convenient that the murder mystery which the German police haven't been able to solve, is cracked within minutes by Himesh and his band of jokers?

The only time you really smile with the film is when they crack those in-jokes, those smart one-liners directed at themselves. Like that joke on Himesh's nasal voice, and the one about his obsession with hats.

The autorickshaw scene, however, is neither funny nor clever, it's really quite stupid. How did those autos land up in Germany is what I really want to know!

In his new avatar as an actor, Himesh Reshammiya is evidently out of place. Dialogue delivery is clearly not his strength, perhaps that's why his lines are few and far between.

However, he does have guts, I must admit, for putting himself in a position where many will undoubtedly mock him. And not without reason either.

But as a singer and a composer, Himesh hits all the right notes again with Aap Kaa Surroor whose biggest strength is undoubtedly Himesh's superhit soundtrack.

It's a pity poor Mallika Sherawat can't do much to elevate your spirits, but that's because she's straitjacketed in a role that's badly written and does little justice to her screen presence.
Newcomer Hansika Motwani is what I'd call a dalda-ka-dubba, all fair and chubby and pleasant, but with very little personality.

Hopefully from this moment on, Himesh will abandon all his acting ambitions and concentrate on his music instead.

REVIEW---------BONG CONNECTION

There's very little to like about The Bong Connection, and my problems start with the film's title.The word 'bong' is an extremely tiring stereotype, one that's been used far too often and never in a flattering light. The film itself, directed by Anjan Dutt, seems to lack a cohesive and coherent plot.

It's about two young men, and their search for a better life. Parambrata Chattopadhyay plays Apu, who leaves Kolkata for the US.He's tired of his life in this dead city and intends to make it big in America. Shayan Munshi, meanwhile plays Andy, a Bengali boy who moves from New York to Kolkata, hoping to pursue a career in music, and also to renew his bond with his paternal family.

Now to this mix, add one oversexed Bangladeshi taxi-driver who makes out with an assortment of American strippers, a gay roommate who likes to fool around with his lover with his door wide open, a shreiky aunt who spends pretty much the entire film howling at the top of her lungs, and veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee wasted in the role of a paralysed grandpa who doesn't move an arm in the film - quite literally... It's very simple really, the film doesn't work because it's full of cliches that we've seen a hundred times before.

In all honesty, The Bong Connection models itself after Hyderbad Blues but without all the spontaneous humour!

There are about one or two good scenes in the film, and they all involve Shayan Munshi and his uncle. Of the actors, the only one who leaves a mark is Raima Sen, who plays Apu's girlfriend. Raima is spirited and feisty and she's an absolute natural on screen.

It's to her credit that she makes an impression even though the character she plays isn't exactly dynamic. Also, someone please tell me what's with Victor Banerjee's embarrassing accent - it's not exactly American, and it vanishes every now and then.

Of course, the biggest tragedy is the manner in which they completely underutilise an actor of the calibre of Soumitra Chatterjee.

The Bong Connection, it's not entirely unwatchable, but it's not a film you're going to remember even five minutes after you've left the cinema.

THOUGHT BUBBLE-2

wow! what a president we have now!

one who communicates with the dead

a most vulnerable candidate

with her spl "ghungat" attire will represent 21st century India in world forum

has her baggage of controversies following her to the Rashtrapati Bhavan

and the worst part is she has KALAM to succeed!

THOUGHT BUBBLE-1

Soon silence will have passed into legend.
Man has turned his back on silence.
Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation...
tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego.
His anxiety subsides.
His inhuman void spreads monstrously like a gray vegetation.

its not me......

m her object of envy....

m d flower in her hand....

m d creation of nature's magic wand!

oh yes i's sinking....

n none came to save....

de say i's hit by the wave....

but i learned the hard-way to salve!

it was partially visible in the incandescent light....

as the shadows thickened outside....

it was in an African roadside.....

that GOD was born that night.

my dreams were flying away....

some told me not to run on that way....

till i realised to live my life on my own say.

love came to me at a time when i's happy to be not free.....

when i had accepted my fate n yielded to destiny,

but with HIS words i could not but agree.....

he told me i still had the world to see.

m the first ray of the sun...

i can burn n so can heal...

on the sidewalk or in d barn.....

m panoptic n u can always feel!

i was married to duty n passion.....

but i am a widow now.....

though not willingly so......

i have wings to fly but nowhere to go!

there was none to give me company....

i was tangled yet was free....

the purple sky looked upon me.....

n liberated my soul in a wee.

her eyes had a chronicle to say....

broken dreams were embedded there......

dead memories too wanted a place to share....

her soul kept seeking refuge but landed nowhere!

pent up emotions and pent up me

.....from behind glass doors an unfamiliar world i could see

......i was sick n tired of captivity

......but no one ever xchanged a pleasantry !

I AM GLAD THAT ITS OVER--------

It has been getting on my nerves for quite sometime now and i sincerely wanted to speak up----------- i find this HARRY POTTER MANIA really really too much to bear!

Was having a war of words with one of my seniors in college last night and it was all regarding this issue----- thats when i decided its high time i write------and what better day to write something on this issue than the day of the book release of [thankfully] the last one in the series!

i once bought a copy of one of the books in the HP series and frankly speaking could not go even half way----- i would like to quote one of my very dear friends here-----TORSA says, the books takes us to an alternative world which is nothing new------i add, its very true!This concept has been taken up by several authors time and again and trust me the Enid Blyton classiscs which we all used to read during early childhood are better than this!

I personally think HP without the broadcast media becomes one of the million fairytale kind of stories which did not quite receive media attention,but are at par with HP.More than the book, its the punctiliously media-crafted hype which surrounds this piece of literature,which i find simply disparaging! The media kind of projects HP as the most readable book in the present world scenario!

The above mentioned senior also pointed out HP as a "book of values"---------- exaggeration overcoming its bounds i suppose------the whole concept of this book is religiously borrowed from J.R.R. Tolkein's fictions.

I end it by saying-----------all u bengalis who still read "bangla boi"[and those who dont] try to quench your thirst by reading Sukumar Ray[u can even start reading regional folktales or even Thakumar Jhuli---i still enjoy reading them at this age] and not HP----------you will take pride in your own culture again.

I WAS OUT OF PLACE ALL THE TIME

I ‘m going to use a word in this piece of writing which I simply hate using-BONG for BENGALIS…….. [Lord forgive me for this]

It was a little more than a year back……when I made that blunder….. a decision which others considered would bless me with a successful career ……..it was me taking up MASS COMM for History……showing it to others and more to myself…..I carried something in me to win the award “Whims of the Century” [!!!!!] because MASS COMM was never on my mind…..though I cannot say I did horribly!

And there I was at a place which I could least comprehend.

STUDENTS- Well…..barring a few…..just a few…..the others were beyond my reach. I don’t know whether, I should use the word “reach” here. The great minds in our class spoke something I never understood [they spoke in ENG of course!]……some bombastic words all the time…..some great vague theories propounded by some great men….. Existentialism, Modernism, Post-modernism, Neo-capitalism, Late-capitalism, and some big names which I did not even remember a second after I had heard them. Initially I was happy at the prospect of studying in a class in which Bengalis were the majority [I am a racist and harbor anti-MARU feelings]. Little did I understand that these Bengalis have been transformed into BONGS! These BONG materials in my schooldays would always be ostracized completely….because there we formed the majority. Now I found myself in the minority- I am the Bengali among the BONGS-the one who was clumsily dressed , fumbled all the time, had no sense of style[which is so important to be in this college],etc etc! But somehow I felt proud….because the difference existed….for the 1st time I felt happy to dress clumsily and remain a”BEHNJI”……… Being a fashion-victim would be appreciated still but not someone whom “fashion” has spared. It was quite in vogue there, to call each other by queer names/nicknames. No! Don’t you think that these names were out of love and affection for your friends- it was just “so fashionable” to give each other weird names! Most of them found the canteen “cheap and noisy” and so to spend good amount of money from their pockets they went to the near-by CCD…..some 10/15 people at a table, ordering cookies for lunch/dinner/supper/whatever! 2 cookies for 20 bucks- that’s the cheapest there…..and shamelessly they sat there in such large numbers around the table and with 2 cookies on a plate in the middle!!!!!!!!! Most of them survived on a staple diet consisting of ….well…..umm….”FROOTY”. They possessed nothing “in” them to receive/welcome anything/anyone. Once, I’d done the grave mistake of asking one of my classmates “who is KURT COBAIN?”- I saw glaring and gaping faces at me. On another occasion I had asked “what is OLYPUB?”- ok, I don’t need to pen down their reactions again!!!!! During one of our class-exercises I had asked someone[I don’t remember who] in class, her views on Reservation-Quota-Vendetta politics and NUKE-WAR - they all stared at my face hearing the alien words [so the conclusion is, not knowing KURT COBAIN was something for which I should be put to death, but having no knowledge of the country is “jussssss fynnnnn”]. And oh yes! It was so fashionable to play the guitar and hum English tunes in class….. It was also extremely important to flaunt your newly acquired earthly possessions- like a DG SLR camera/a new N_SERIES mobile/a new Reebok /Nike shoe in public. Finally for a few misfits like us in the class, it was partitioned into the left and right wings [something as great as EAST and WEST Germany]

FACULTY/INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE DPT- One of my good friends had remarked once, that the chair of the H.O.D in the DPT is something like “Bikromaditya-r 32 Shinghashon”. Whoever is on it, will invariably speak crap [well better admit all the teachers there have somehow mastered the art of speaking/writing shit]. The DPT is called MASS COMM & VIDEOGRAPHY but strangely enough neither MASS COMM nor VIDEOGRAPHY has been taught to us properly [or badly] over d past 1 year! We are given assignments 2 work with the camera but we are not provided camera and we are all suppose to have it. We are suppose to understand and study the working principles and applications of camera, sound studio, lights, etc without having the least bit of prior knowledge and assistance from the teachers. We are to study the AUDIO MIXER but the one we have there is dysfunctional from ages! How are we supposed to know all the editing software? [as if they don’t know that we come to the college straight out of school and all of us are shifting from pure academics to a vocational, basically industry oriented] course. And the best part is they will never teach them in class! None of them can speak simply and appreciate students who do the same. All of them will discuss something in class which has no connection whatsoever with what we will b testes on, during our university exams. Classes are not held most of the time and this becomes a major problem coz we don’t have any study material to fall back on!!!! The teachers feel that they are not accountable to the students-they will neither give us the syllabus nor listen to our queries. Our class projects should be ideally financed by the college but the college authorities have no clue that the students are being forced to finance the projects i.e. buying cassettes for the DV-cams, paying transport fees if the project is taking place outside the college and so on and so forth! I think this is enough for everybody to understand how the DPT functions…..so I should stop the bashing here.

Miscellaneous: - mobile phones are not allowed even in the canteen……the canteen food is atrocious…..the hygiene vis-à-vis drinking water and canteen food is something the authorities must take into consideration……..and what with this excuse slip and all?? Are we nursery kids, eh???

ALL THAT I STAND FOR

I am the poem of a hazel-eyed man

The green goblin resides in my soul

I freed the purple genie from the lamp

In my oneirism I have killed the one I loved

The boogeyman comes 2 me 4 scary ideas

My tainted mind's kissed by eldritch influences & is free now

For centuries I've worked as the shaman between the gremlin & the pooka

But I’m still d product of your dullest imagination

RESERVATION & BEYOND

The Congress has lost its traditional vote bank & what all is it not doing to regain it! Reservation is just an effort to lure back d lost voters. Reservation has damn-all to do something with balancing society-it has everything to do with winning elections.We all have had enough of "merit Vs caste/quota" debates dating back to the heydays of Mandal Commission.So i'm gonna spare u of all this.I decide toanalyze the debate from a totally different perspective which gives a vivid picture of contemporary India-


1>The entire debate is characterized by hypocrisy; by self-interest dressed up as ideology. At one level, it is the Dalits who talk of social justice but actually only support the proposals because they benefit from them. And at another, it is the upper castes that talk about merit but are only worried about getting their kids into medical school. But there’s another, more significant, level. If you say that quotas are necessary to restore social balance and order, then u must apply this principle across all categories. And yet, nearly everyone uses the argument selectively. You will find hundreds of TV-friendly activists and fiery feminist dial-a-quote peddlers who will tell us that seats must be reserved in Parliament for women to restore the social balance. Ask many of these same women about caste-based reservation in jobs -- or even in Parliament, for that matter -- and they’ll suddenly sing a very different tune. So,reservation based on gender is okay.But caste-based reservation is regressive, apparently. Or, ask the backward leaders in the BJP who tell us that more castes should be included in the reservation list why the same arguments should not be used to secure reservation for Muslims. After all, they are much worse off than most backward castes on every parameter. But not only will the BJP refuse to concede the logic but even the Congress will pretend that ‘social justice’ only applies to Hindus.

2>The founders of modern India -- men like Jawaharlal Nehru -- had a vision of a country where caste would soon become irrelevant. In the 1970s and for much of the 1980s, as electoral mandates cut across caste lines, that vision seemed to be coming true.Then, after Mandal, everything changed. Today, Indian politics is about caste.But the problem with today’s caste-based reservation is that every Indian will now need to know his caste even before he learns what his blood group is: his education and his job will depend on that knowledge.I find it extraordinary that the Congress -- which Arjun Singh represents -- has so completely betrayed Nehru’s vision. And I think that it is a sad commentary on modern India that nobody even thinks that this is worth commenting on.

3>In the bad old days of 95 per cent income tax, urban land ceilings and wealth tax,the tragedy of Indian politics was that the politicians seemed to think that India's problems were about distribtuion.In fact, they were about production. The way ahead was not to redistribute the little that there was but to free the economy so that we could produce much more. That way, there would be more to go around and we would not need penal tax rates, foolish laws like FERA and income tax raids.Fortunately for us, Dr Manmohan Singh saw the point in 1991 and the Indian economy is now booming. The same holds true for reservation. We must be the only country in the world where every parent is traumatized by the prospect of getting his or her child into school or college -- not because of the expense but because of the scarcity of seats. Indians value education. So why don’t we have more schools? Why doesn’t the government spend its money on more colleges?If college seats were not so scarce, then nobody would get so agitated about reserving seats on a caste basis. But our politicians have failed to translate the lessons of economic liberalization into the education sector. So, the scarcities continue. And all solutions are framed in terms of redistributing scarce seats.

4>As opposed as I am to the current reservation proposals, I have to say that I find the attitude of much of the urban middle class deeply disturbing and, at a more primal level, loathsome and revolting. In the last five years or so, the Shining India of the towns and cities, of the mega-malls and mobile phones has grown increasingly insular. Most of us have never known so much prosperity. But rather than opening our eyes to that part of India that is not Shining, the money has made us petty, selfish and greedy. We look to Manhattan /Seattle for our reference points; and we forget the debt-ridden farmers who kill themselves a few hundred miles from our homes.This attitude shows up in everything that Shining India does.
And the reservation debate is no different. Once again, it has become a them-and-us issue. And once again, the urban elite has failed the nation by not voluntarily offering some form of affirmative action for the less privileged. Of course, I oppose reservation. But I am often ashamed to stand next to the self-satisfied, rich people who share my position. Because it isn’t reservation that they are really against. They oppose everybody who is poor, who is disadvantaged, and who is not like them.


5>If it is true, as this government claims, that 60 years after independence, the backwards still have not got social justice, then whose fault is it? For something like 50 of those 60 years, the Congress was in power. How come Arjun Singh and his Congress pals did nothing till last year?

There's not much to be proud of,is there??

PANACHE DIFFERENCE

Yasujiro Ozu's films are explorations of space, although his later films are pre-occupied with the notion of the passage of time. His camera investigates the emotional spaces which divide and unite the characters of the film, the household and the workplaces, the architecture of small suburban Japanese towns and of sake bars and offices. His images are always simple but carefully constructed with the traditional rigorous Japanese geometry. Almost often his films are concerned with the unit of family.

Japan being a feudal society, the locus of power resided in the family. Post WW-2, the change and flux of the Japanese society, the demands of the” new and independent woman" or the breaking up of the family unit as result of the Japanese society giving way for newer cultural and economic currents-has been specifically portrayed in his films. Let us consider the examples of the 2 films "Tokyo Story" and "Early Summer" where Ozu tries to bring out the pathos of everyday existence and the changing Japanese bourgeois society respectively.
For example in "Tokyo Story", the journey of the parents from the countryside to the suburbs of Tokyo which occurs in a heartbeat of screen time, actually is a long process, both literally and metaphorically. The changing value system in JAPAN which has also been portrayed in "Early Summer" through the mature and independent Noriko[Satsuko Hara] is actually an indication of Japanese society at that time. His films were mostly shot in middle-class Japanese interiors which brought out the home as a kind of stage for the inevitable conflicts between the family members. The decision which Noriko makes in spite of her family's dissonance is not the outcome of an irrational whim of an immature girl but the new-liberated Japanese woman!

The plots, the characters, the backdrop of Ozu are very "JAPANESE”, irrelevant of the fact that they evoke universal sympathy.

Kurosawa's composition of frames picturesque, his projects were grand and won for him both critical and audience acclaim. His camera ventured into unknown spaces, while Ozu's was fixed-the entire drama unfolding in front of it.Ozu almost never panned the camera or faded to the next shot. Whereas Ozu was mostly confined to the Japanese interiors,Kurosawa explored the open Japanese wild territories. The fixed camera position of Ozu is similar to his treatment of films-there is no action, nothing really happens in the story. Kurosawa's way of making films was very different from that of Ozu,two of the major reasons being-he shot mostly outdoors and chronologically[one of the very few to do so],which made his films a gala affair!Ozu was very minimalist in his style-the simple decor, the minimum dialogue, the almost elegant mise-en scene -which forced the audience to go beneath the surface of drama and look for inner meanings.

Since Kurosawa's films did not essentially deal with typical "JAPANESE subjects" like Ozu, his films for the first time could open the doors of Japanese cinema to World cinema,though it must be mentioned Ozu's was a quiet and powerful study of the rapidly disintegrating Japanese feudal society.