Heroine, Halcut Jawani in Lowcut.....

Just got back after watching yet another Madhur Bhandarkar film that has his signature style...that is portraying dark side of various professions. Dark...because that gives ample room for showing sale-able elements like skin, sex, scandals, which he does in style. His babes look gorgeous. Kareena is absolutely wonderful. The Halkat Jawani  in Low-cut blouses is highlighted on the celluloid. Explicit scenes and dialogues, extra-marital relationships, casting couch, prostitutes, lesbianism, red-light area.....there is enough for the camera to zoom into wrong...oops right places. I wondered if I missed seeing an A rating because I had taken the kids along..like many other parents. No I did not.

Is the censor board sleeping? Has the Censor Board turned liberal...or is it a kind of FDI in Bollywood? What is A rating reserved for now? What is adult content by the way?  It is not even U/A????????? I completely object to the rating part of the film. We can't subject children to watch this kind of mature and adult content.

Every damn woman in the film...the mother, actress, secretary, PR, wife.....lights up a cigarette in every frame. Like my younger daughter commented...."Its a very suffocating movie. There is so much smoking in the movie." I had to agree to that remarkably witty observation. Madhur Bhandarkar made up for all the films made during that earlier ban on smoking in films.

Contrary to speculations and guesses drawing parallels with any real time heroine, I felt it is a bit of mish-mash of all heroines of past and present. There is bit of everyone's life. The film is quite believable even though Madhur claims it to be fiction. A good watch. A rather serious film for adults so just don't take kids along. Don't go with parents either. (:---) I am not joking. As it is there isn't much to laugh about in the film.

Arjun Rampal looks haggard and old but its okay if/as he playing Shahrukh Khan kind. That character suits. :P ...........Randeep Hooda as a cricketer is likeable but the show stealer is Ranveer Shourie, as Bangali film-maker Tapan da. Looks like wife Konkona Sen has done lots of 'homework' on him.....

Hey come on...I never discuss the story so go watch the film. Its worth all its 'booby traps.' That trapped the Censor guys as well.  But where were the censoring babes??

Barfi.....Fresh n Sweet!

So here's Barfi for you all. Subtle and Sweet.........sweet enough. Bengali director Anurag Basu has captured 'Bengal' beautifully. Film is set in picturesque Darjeeling and chaotic Calcutta. The most beautiful are those small bits of childhood moments in the 70s and every little detail is captivating. Every frame engages you to smile or to empathize or shed a tear...again a USP of Bengali directors. 

Initially the pace seems a bit slow but then it picks up just as the Darjeeling toy train chugging down those romantic winding tracks. But unlike the toy train you can't get in just about anywhere...you have to stay with every frame to understand the narrative because there are lots of flashbacks. A wonderful script and good performances. Ranbir Kapoor will live up to the RK legacy just like his name. Debutant Ileana is terrific. There is plenty of fun in the second half. Just watch the film..... I am just happy for Barfi is my favorite sweet too.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^!!!!!!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

PS: Could have been edited in the first half to shorten the length a little bit.

Khul gaya Raaz3...the secret of NaRaaz Bipasha

Raaz3 ki baat kah doo toh, jaane mehfil mein fir kya ho...

khul gaya raaz...the secret. It is the most regressive movie in the progressive times. Dirty secret is covered under ample skin show yet can't save the BUTTS.. Between some lousy kisses Bangali Bipasha does some Black magic which supposedly works on her half sister in the film but could not cast a spell on the audience. Frankly, Bipasha's days are over. With clothes or without clothes. And Mahesh Bhatt is going the RGV way. BUTTS could neither BOO nor WOO the audience.

Touted as the spine-chilling horror film, it is stupidly comical in the opening scenes.Frankly, I don't understand why BUTTS needed to create ghosts with black- magic. The only horror in the film is BIPASHA herself. Bipasha treats Hashmi like a slave and stands inches taller to spin him the way she wants. OMG...... Poor #me...between two dirty sisters.

There is very less to tell in the movie so they keep sealing the lips for some visual 'appeal'. (Appeal to some people to please please stick on for the rest of the film.) They also lock lips when they are scared while the audience desperately want them to say something logical. Hash..specially by Hashmi. O boy, Ram Gopal Verma has some serious competition from the 'Boo' Butt camp... 

Aey Imraan Hashmi, fine buddy we know kissing is your forte but yaar kucch toh aur kar le. At least add some creativity to ....it. Completely stupid movie.....Waste of kisses oops money. Hyped and well-marketed but please avoid unless of course you love watching Bipasha's biceps.

Shirin-Farhad KTNP- HEALTHY LOVE STORY

A review of SFKTNP..

Its a cute romance between two golu-moluz, Farah aunty and Boman uncle. I love going to Cusrow Baug, the Parsi Colony where the movie is set. It is a perfect locale to shoot a Parsi love story. Everything is so real yet so different from the Bombay chaos.

Farah looks bindaas and quite herself. Loud and straight. A little conscious sometimes but vivacious mostly. Boman is Boman...as good as always plus a little cuter as a Parsi 'underworld' salesman. Love happens at any age and when it does...the chemistry and biology matches in an instant. The issues are generally social science and history. Predictably here too the same. But the chemistry between two healthy 40+ people is so good that you don't miss seeing a bare midrif or six-packs. Of course the 'glow in the dark' lingerie makes up to some extent. (Next RGV might create a ghost story with bhootnie in flouroscent negligees.)

The movie has lots of original Parsis playing almost themselves. So acting is good. There is fun and also Parsi fun. Movie is inspirational for 40+ singles waiting to mingle. Most of all it is a very believable love story. Call that predictable if you want. But do watch it once for here's a real woman...no liposuction, no nose jobs (hopefully) and no silicon implants, no made up cleavages. Gutsy Wo(W)man...Farah deserves the applause.

Dekh lo yaar! ITZ A VERY HEALTHY LOVE STORY. You can take the kids along too.

Gan?s of Wasseypur...a re view!!!

Friends, I just watched Gan_s of Wasseypur....(so) much late. The reviews were already out and I believed the 4 star rating. Of course I loved Anurag Kashyap's earlier work so it was an easy trap. Trap...it was! "Kah kar loonga"....they meant it literally.

There was a liberal usage of a certain language and it added to my knowledge and vocabulary. One such word seemed the crux of the movie and was used so frequently that I actually wondered if it was mis-spelt in the poster. Manoj Bajpai looked Bihari Babua but not Muslim. The paradox was his auladen (Progeny), Jayaz and najayaz (legal and illegal).... none of his boys looked good despite his good looks or the looks of the sexy women he laid. Some mutations of the genes some where. So much so one of his sons looked haggard and older than him.

Women????? Were they even required?  Not really. While his eye sore sons had beautiful eye candies  to hang around with, he had a hot bong to show some flesh and some suggestive hot moves. It was sex and sleaze and loads of blood shed. Butchery shots were the highlights and may have appealed to a God knows what kind of people.

Men in the front rows loved it as they cheered every gaali and harkat. The men in the back rows loved it too perhaps but they watched it quietly. The women........??????????????????

Women would run away....whats with that nonsensical hunter gibberish passed as some classic from Trinidad. It seems from Trinibad!!

"Kah Kar Le Lee".....thats what the movie makers claim in print ads. Well I don't know about the audiences but CENSOR KI TOH LE LEE....  It's quite a leap from Delhi Belly and Dirty Picture and will set a DISGUSTING trend in the days to come. It should be classified as something else than an A Film.

Its like emperor's new clothes, everyone is raving about it.......but let me tell you Raja Nangdhadanga hai......!!!

PS: Guys, its tough being a film maker and tougher being an objective critic. Worse if you want to turn a filmmaker too. How could a filmmaker-to-be so damn critical of someone's work? I know I am taking a big risk........:))))))))))))))))

Ferrari ki Sawaari... :( :(

First day first show.....thats how I like to see movies. So today we set out for a zipping experience in the Ferrari. But wtf.......Safar tha ya suffering.....ah, ooh, ouchhh!!!

Arey story nahin hai toh picture kyon banate ho yaar.....?????? Ferrari bechaari....that could have been an apt title. (for a good story, contact me)

Ferrariiiiiiiiiiiii kiiiiiiiiiiiiii Sawaariiiiiiiiiiiiii.........The movie could have got over in less than 30 films and was better made into a short film. Barely 20 minutes into the super slow movie a child sitting behind me said,"Arey yaar yeh Ferrari kab khatm hogi?"

Ferrarri has no relevance or significance in the movie. It could have been any car and and anyone's. The pace of the movie is so slow that even director got the Ferarri pulled by a 'Baelgaadi'..bullock cart in one of the scenes.

Sharman Joshi...tried acting out the best out of the given lousy script. Boman played himself???? Old Parsi.

Those of you, like me, don't go by the reviews and like testing things themselves must go and check out this dud. Don't complain then......because you were warned, hugh!! :(

:(  Was that Vidya Balan trying out sexy Lavani number??? Waste...tch! Sorry, Wrong number in every way. ^ ^

Elephanta Festival at Gateway..for the first time!

The three-day Elephanta Festival was celebrated after a gap of two years. And for the first time, it  was not held at the Elephanta island near Mumbai, but at the Gateway of India, with an inferior adaption of the famous Trimurti Sadashiva on stage to create the ambience of Elephanta. The three-day event, organised by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, which was opened on Friday, March 23, with a recital of Marathi sugam sangeet (light music), was followed by a performance by Hindustani classical vocalist Parveen Sultana, and a collaborative one by singer Runa Rizvi and percussionist Sivamani, who played Sufi rhythms. Unfortunately the event was poorly advertised and not many people know about these cultural events which are actually supposed to be annual festivals. 

On Saturday, March 24, sundari player Bhimanna Jadhav and Hindustani classical singer Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar  performed solo recitals in the spiritual morning session, which began at 6.15am. I and my daughter cycled our way to reach Gateway of India to enjoy a part of Tikekar's performance. There were a handful of people in the first few rows and it practically looked like the organizers and media personnel. There were few foreigners of course but thats about it. Nonetheless it did not affect the singer or the accompanists who were completely enjoying performing for a minuscule few. One did feel that had it been advertised on social media as well it would have got a much bigger and discerning audience for the performers. Thankfully on Sunday the crowds were a respectable size of music connoisseurs. I was again there in the morning.

There were four classical and folk dances being performed in the evening, which I could not attend but I landed up to hear my favorite voice, of Hariharan. He sang Gazals like 'Tere kaandhe pe mera sar hota'......'Marz e ishq'....which had a mesmerizing effect. The beautiful sea breeze on a hot summer evening added to the romance of the gazals. The attendance that night was better but still not enough to occupy the huge number of chairs which were lying vacant. Resources wasted, that's how I felt. Speaking to some people one came to know that they had no clue about the festival. It was a mere coincident that they heard the music while they were strolling around Gateway and they came to check it out. Thank God...

 I am glad I was there for bits and pieces. I missed listening to Parveen Sultana but I was enthralled by 'Tu hi re' from the iconic movie BOMBAY......... a mellifluous composition by Hariharan, which was also an audience choice and incidentally the concluding piece of that evening and the festival. I came all the way back home singing the song....It was a an evening to remember!

Better than an Audi!!

I don't own an Audi, not as yet, but I am very fond of my 'Merc'…that's my cycle and I have been riding it for many years now. Going to the local market for fruits and veggies or shopping, going to the club for a game or library, going to the swimming pool, taking kids (when small) out for a ride, going to the bank…its with me everywhere. My friends whom I refused to, when they offered me a lift, often ask me, "How have you come?" I say 'My Merc' just like I answered the first time, and watched the bewildered lot while waving at them, pedaling my 'Merc'.

So many friends have expressed their desire to ride one after seeing me, including the ones who have never done it before. Actually we women lose touch with many people and activities that we were so familiar with in our maiden days. Life is truly demarcated into two worlds…before marriage and after marriage. I have seldom seen a man not doing what he did as a bachelor, that includes chasing women (now may be with eyes alone??) and playing all the sports he loved. Speaking about men is like opening a debate….so I leave it for the time now.

Ah…cycling is fun, always, but earlier I combined it with purpose and now the sole purpose is pleasure… on weekend mornings. Thanks to my cyclist friends in Bandra who came all the way to Afghan Church, where I joined them for the shortest ride from home, I am beginning to enjoy SoBo rides to begin with. I have begun cycling on holiday mornings on Bombay roads exploring places like you can never do in your swanky AC four wheelers. Its an added delight as my daughters have gained height (and now also the confidence) to follow me through the sparse morning traffic. 

My younger daughter has to be dragged out of the bed with the angry bird face but once we hit the road she tweets "Its fun". She still is scared but given the fact that she has recently graduated from her kiddy bike to a 26" and started negotiating the traffic (BEST buses and BMC trucks) makes me look at her with pride. My elder daughter who otherwise fights with her all the time becomes hugely protective towards her on the road and urges me to take the lead while she follows her behind, keeping and eye on her sister, at times stopping and helping her on a turn or a signal. Its a great way to see them bonding even if you come back home to witness them fight like cats for the title 'Ring ki Queen'…both girls you see!

Yesterday it was just my elder one and me. We cycled to Gateway of India and attended the concluding part of the musical morning of Elephanta Festival. Today it was all three of us and it was fun because on our way back we went to the BPT Garden. Bombay Port Trust garden is an oasis of greenery and very popular with health freaks. So just when we were leaving the place on our bicycles a gentleman smiled at us and waved. I liked it. I guess my Merc and kids' SUVs with low carbon footprint impressed him too. And guess what, he was in an Audi….!!

PS: Kids just requested me to mention their beauties; younger one's 'Bentley' and elder one's 'Ferrari'!…LOL

Pre Marital Sex ???? OMG, OMG !!!!

Preity Zinta is back in town and busy chatting up with tweeple about the hackneyed PMS..pre marital sex. Oolala! That was my the lead story in Deccan Chronicle's Sunday Page co authored with a friend. A well researched article that was published in 1994 in DC sizzled the ground I walked on. The heat was unbearable. The responses ranged from this extreme to that. Many chose to believe our researched facts in the story and others just chose to abuse me and look at me with suspicion and contempt because I was a young unmarried woman writing about it. What people did not understand that I was not endorsing or supporting PMS. 

I had not known the story was already in print for the Sunday edition when I walked into the DC office on a Thursday evening that time and the reactions and the glances of some people were just too much to handle. Uff!!!

As a woman writer I always feel  sensitive to whatever gets written about sex...pre or post marriage. And how the spoken word goes around. From an innocuous SEX column where each one of us have been ticking Male/Female to announce who we are to SEX as a three letter forbidden word the whole perspective changes. 

Read this:

"Navneet Chaurasia ‏ @c_navneet

@realpreityzinta i think it's completely OK as sex is an emotion more out of love than marriage & love does not wait for marriage to happen.

Retweeted by Preity zinta

I would say that there is no point in getting judgmental about it but yes while men communicate to get that sex, women give sex to get that communication right. Somewhere along the line if its only about good sex and not about bonding then it is devoid of emotions. And that can turn a relationship into a nerve breaking stressful one which has a very short shelf life.

There is nothing wrong about sex if it happens to be a building block in a healthy, respectable and a loving relationship without a negative space of guilt!!!

Women Changing India...Symposium

Attended a symposium organized by Barnard College. Listening to the various women panelist was like recharging, rebooting and reinventing myself. It was a day well spent educating myself, reaffirming and reinforcing my belief about my role as an individual. We women keep grooming ourselves with regular spas and parlor visits but it is when you hear women achievers, their words clear the dust off your brains, clean your ignition plug and polish your mind for that brilliance which was always there. They are not any different from you and I. It is like visiting a MIND PARLOR.

The only thing that took them to break the ceiling was that they kept on going where as some of us slowed down or rested....perhaps longer than we should have. There is so much that my nosey, spongy journalist-writer brain has soaked up from there that I could write series of articles on HOW WOMEN CAN CHANGE THE SOCIETY.  Nah, darlings I might keep writing nuggets about it in my future quickies but I need to first apply this knowledge to my life.

Panelists, of course were the celebrated and emancipated Indian women from nearly every profession, (you can check the details in the link given below). Nonetheless the women in audience weren't any less interesting. Met some wonderful women across ages and bonded with some for some great karmic connect in future :)....coz nothing is without a purpose. I strongly feel that we women really need to collaborate to paint a much bigger canvas.

After all that food for thought, we indulged in some gourmet delights and deserts without feeling guilty about it. Yes, guilt was the point of discussion and it was a great way to break that stereotype and enjoy and live the moment.

Good days are generally followed by good nights. So right now, I am relishing a good dinner cooked by my darling husband.... exotic stir fried vegetables and Cottage Cheese in Hoi Sin Sauce. See thats how Good women are changing their world and making things work for them. Ah, time for thanksgiving.....to him of course. :)

I got a feeling......tonight's gonna be a good night!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barnard-College-Global-Symposia-Series/142792982508260?sk=wall

Cool Japan Festival....Mumbai Mein!! (Biggest)

Sometimes I just land at the right place, like today when I was at the Phoenix Mills I did not know that I actually would be attending the opening ceremony of Cool Japan Festival celebrating 60 years of Indo Japan relations. As the tag line read "Feel Japan like never before"...well, the opening set the tone right by bringing in some traditional things for the first time in India.

Ah, not another Sushi darlings, that is available everywhere now. They brought a Robot, made like a woman and something that could  move and shake hands. Robots is again a synonym with Japanese so no big deal if they brought a machine like that. The big deal was that they brought in a Maiko in flesh and blood...the Japanese doll like. Okay, you would know a Maiko if you had read 'Memoirs of Geisha.' Well she is a trainee to become a Geisha, the traditional entertainer and dancer. I had read the book twice over because the detailing is so vivid that you can actually visualize the whole life of a Geisha.  When Maiko later performed traditional Kimono dance it felt so beautiful living a page from the life of a Geisha to be.

How could I not tell you about Wadaiko Drum performance that was before the Maiko's. That was an electrifying performance by young drummers lead by a girl. Oooh.....it was certainly not to be missed as I was told by the back stage guy. Thanks to him I was hooked on to the event till the end.

Did I say end?? What an end! Oh, that was quite a surprise. Have you ever seen a Japanese Sardar? I did, today night. Check out the flicks to believe and to feel like Japan. Chadda came on the stage attired like traditional Japanese and a turban on the head crooning saki O..the sad, sombre song which he explained were similar to our Gazals. Then his own rendition in Hindi but sung like a pure Saki O floored the audience. The MC was half Indian half Japanese and Chadda was 100% Japanese, at heart for sure as he said "WE JAPANESE"....

Well, thats a great way to celebrate a great bond....!!!      Great evening for me and AB....            Sayonara!!

Check all the flicks on fb too , I will upload Chadda's Video link too.

Dirty girl gets pregnant...and wow!

Dirty girl Vidya Balan got pregnant and delivered a breathtaking performance. Watched Kahaani yesterday. Its a gripping mystery that keeps you glued without giving much time to think. She is natural yet intense and sporadic laughter moments that she lives at some points in her characterization makes you love her some more.

Move over Khans we have a new HERO!! and as far as the items and the item numbers of a masala film are concerned....this KAHAANI is a hit without any.... as I would say...'cut the crap'. Vidya has rewritten history and boy who is the writer...........got to grant it to her too. Oh yes, it is a woman. Advaita Kala!

Advaita, Kahaani itself is so good that it could not have been told in any other way. Shokti!!

Relive your first crush!!

Life is so damn fast that we hardly have time. Time to pause and think, time to pause and introspect and time to pause and rewind. We just doing things...turning them trite actions without creativity. Suddenly you realize the years, the months, the days, the hours, the minutes.....the countless moments wasted.

I have just paused holding all the moments to my bosom, nurturing the beautiful ones with love and care. It feels so nice once again. Like the first crush when you break into a song and dance, unaware of the things around you. I am in love again....and this time with myself...for the first time.

Hold on, I keep reminding myself. This is it. This feeling. This feeling is what makes me come alive, rejuvenated and regenerated.

There could be many expressions of this feeling but I want to go Bungee jumping and scuba diving....right now! Bizarre and crazy??? But isn't that love's nature?

Happy Woman’s Day!

For my Wishing Tree installation at Kala Ghoda festival I received one WISH many times.....to have a SON before the world came to an end. Daughters...well, they just arrive anyways....as if!

Every woman is someone’s daughter however wanted or unwanted. My elder daughter had asked me why people did not like to have daughters after watching a short film on female infanticide. Barely six at that time she had begun to understand things I thought she would not so soon. My little girl at five had asked me why she did not have a brother while most girls in her school had one and I told her that we asked for only two baby girls from God.  

Today I dote on my daughters but I too am guilty of nurturing a desire to have a son when my second child was to be born because like every conditioned Indian I too believed that an ideal family constituted of a brother and a sister. It’s a confession to all my readers and today I feel relieved. But let me tell you I am not guilty of an infanticide. I never even prayed for a son. I never ever asked for sex determination test. So much that when my second daughter arrived my aunt was shocked to know why I never went for such tests. I was always against such prejudices and I thought educated women do not need to subjugate to try and produce only male babies.   

But education has nothing to do with this great Indian desire for a son. We Indians, rather Asians are obsessed with the want for a son. Our traditions and rituals from birth through marriage till death are not complete without a son. Our blessings are ‘doodho nhao pooto falo’ and we are conditioned to pray for our brothers, our husbands and sons. We have dedicated festivals like Karva Chauth and Ahoi Ashtami for the husband and the son respectively. Our daughters are a burden for us. They are so called guests at the parents place and sadly even at their permanent home at the in laws their presence is not acknowledged without conditions.  Of the various ‘Conditions Apply’ dowry is one practiced by one and all. It seems like a fine of sorts as if you produce a daughter you are liable to be punished for it. You can bail out only by giving hefty dowry. 

It is hardly surprising that the missing girl child from the villages of Punjab, from the families of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have resulted in alarming sex ratio. At some places there are only four girls for every ten boys born. Wonder what would diminishing numbers of women in the already male dominated set up do. Even with the present numbers, the status of women is not truly liberated or empowered. An average woman can not make a choice be it education, career, job, marriage or bearing a child. Would women ever seek that place of dignity in the society, have a voice and decide for themselves if their tribe becomes lesser every year? More so, will there be a civilized society with so few women? Check out the plight of women in Haryana.

Just a few women in high rise positions in the cities do not define empowerment. And what kind of empowerment. If a lecturer in a government college says she can’t afford to have a second daughter and she must have only a son, our education has not achieved much or there is something seriously wrong in it. Actually speaking, a look at the rhymes and the other story books of elementary education reveals the truth about it that nothing is being changed at the grass root level of education, that the stereotype gender bias is reflected in everything from education to media. A serious campaign by the government of India on elementary education, Aayo School Chale Hum, has a focus on a boy and a girl at the end. While the boy says he would like to be pilot and girl says she would want to be a teacher. Sounds innocuous, is it?  Well, not really. When I heard my daughters, that time just 4 and 5 years, discuss that girls do not become pilots, I was surely disturbed. If only the film makers could defy the stereotype and made the girl make a difficult choice we would have set a whole generation of young girls thinking that they too can. It is no longer only dolls for girls and cars for boys. It is a matter of opportunities. Girls have proven in science and technology and mathematics is no magic to them. 

If the statistics are any indication then we need to sit up and take note of it. My educated friends tell me that it doesn’t really matter in this age and time. Well friends, check out the statistics and look around you. It is not difficult to find families with two girls and a third son among the educated middle class. Because an average Indian family craves for a son till they reach their grave yard. Else how do you explain people with grown up daughters or marriageable daughters ending up having a one year old baby boy? Some say they had to because they need an heir to their large inheritance.  Imagine the plight of a girl that despite Supreme Court giving her equal right to all the parents’ possessions our society still thinks a male makes the suitable heir.

From men to women of various cross sections of society we have invented various reasons to suit ourselves and we justify the need for a boy in the family. An educated young lady talks very pragmatically that her daughter wants only a brother and that her husband feels that in old age they must have a place to go to, so they must have a son. Mr. Singh has a huge inheritance so he needs a son to pass it on. Mrs. X says dowry in her community is a big menace so she would not want to have a daughter. 

The only lady who said she missed having a daughter was also because she would have loved dressing up a baby girl and she had only sons. What a weird reason to have a daughter as if daughters were rag dolls. There is so much more to a daughter if one realizes that a girl, eventually a woman, shapes the society. It is so much important to raise our daughters with security and confident. Educating them does not mean imparting degrees alone it means teaching them to be independent thinkers and decision makers. Daughters need to be respected in their own homes first for them to learn to live with dignity at their in laws or any where else in the society. 

Whether a woman is working or not she must be allowed to make independent decisions. Sadly we have no respect for and no recognition to the role of a home maker. A lady at home is ‘just a housewife’ who is not allowed to comment on financial and other important matters. So even when it comes to her own health or having a baby the choice is forced on to her by her family. It is important to understand emotional and physical needs of women. Just as it is important to have a woman in the family, it is important to have daughters in the family. As for the ideal family definition it is important for a child to have a sibling, brother or a sister.

The male chauvinism and the lewd and lecherous male attitude forces people to think about the security of their daughters. The safety of women is one major cause for concern. But can not having daughters in the family absolve us of our responsibility towards women?  Men who do not respect a girl or a woman on the road do not have any respect for the women in their homes. It is my observation and not without a base. So even those who have sons must teach their sons to be more respectful and sensitive towards women in general, women in their lives, women in their work places. 

And women, learn to respect yourself and your tribe. True celebration of womanhood would be when we would celebrate the birth of a daughter, first or second, yours, mine or someone else. 

Darlings, Happy Women's Day!!

Religiously Speaking

Ah.....after all that chaos and mad rush its back to basics with kids. As a mother I try to inculcate certain values in them. The other day I was telling my younger one to recite some mantras. I told her that by chanting some Durga mantras she will get budhi (intelligence). She was getting late for school and very reluctant to chant those. She spoke in a very matter of fact manner, " Mama, budhi toh mil jayegi, school bus nahin".

Ha,ha, ha. Well, school bus is important too. There is mantra to get that too...that is by "early to bed, early to rise".

But then that is the most difficult part. The night birds will agree!

Wishes....of faith and hope

Hi, its been long I have been away from my Fortified Quirkies....and I missed it. I was just too busy putting up and then watching my interactive installation....Wishing Tree shape up. There are lots of emotions and feelings with those wishes up there. There is fun yet faith and what goes on inside the human mind is reflected through those words scribbled on just about every bit of paper. Even when I spoke to people about it, about a month back, the responses left me thinking. So some of those responses which were raw, unpretentious, simple and basic in nature made the opening statements on the Wishing Tree. The scribblings were like graffiti and the paints were used without deliberation in order to not intimidate but invite people to create a dialogue between the audience and the wishing tree, which by now could communicate.

The response had been amazing. The responses will find a place in my article and the blog and may be in a series of paintings on the canvas.

The Kala Ghoda Festival is on till 12th Feb. Go, make a wish! :)

Wishing Tree

 Wishing Tree

By: Mridual Kalia Bhatnagar

"Why a wishing tree? Because there are many theories about the world coming to an end by 2012. There is negative sentiment but still so many believe that the world won't end.  There is a kind of chaos but despite that various people walking this earth have different aspirations for this year and after, and it will be very interesting to represent wishes of the common people. 

I invite people to write their wishes and the same would be hung on the tree. 

'ख्वाहिशों का पेड़'

कभी यह हाथ उठते हैं दुआओं में,

कभी पेड़ों पर मन्नतों के धागे बाँधने के लिए.

जिंदगी के सफ़र में जितना भी मिले कम लगता है,

जब तक सांस है, दिल करता है मांगने के लिए.

२०१२ के बाद साल ज्यादा हो या कम, अभी मौका है 

 आप की कई ख्वाहिशों को एक पेड़ पर बांधने के लिए.
 

मृदुल कालिया भटनागर



writingdoll@hotmail.com &  writingdoll@twitter

NO TV??? Give me the internet!

No TV DAY?? The news paper I subscribe to had me bowled over the idea of No TV day. Not that my kids are glued to TV on other days. Don't just think something like how sweet n all. Of course my kids would want to go on and on, on Animax or Pogo or just about any other channel on TV but I play the 'Mugambo khush hua' after turning it off or just jerking the smart card (tuner card) out of the set top box when I step out of the home. Ha, ha, ha. Oops, my little one is reading it right now and quipping, " Khud ko Mugambo samjhte ho!"

So, yesterday we decided to do some of the things that Hindustan Times had been advertising for over a fortnight. While some activities are part of our outings already there are some others which we can do even later, for which I have preserved all the related write ups and probably we will have a NO TV Day once a month. We decided to start our day with cycling to the Gateway of India. For my daughter it was her first time ride out of the cantonment. Once at Gateway, we looked for the Cyclists from Bandra. We could not. Probably missed them. My daughter was so charged and excited that she beamed, "I want to go to Marine Drive" So we went there. The dog lover that she is, she played with some dogs and befriended some. Then we rode back home in 25 minutes flat. Isn't it fast?

Then we readied along with the younger one for a Heritage Bus Ride from Jahengir Art Gallery. It was a long wait out there but it was worth, with the funny guy who was our guide. He showed us Sachivaliya...and said yahan upar se neeche tak koi sach nahin bolta... and that Vidhaan Bhawan was the WWE of the ministers. His narrative was hillarious . Though SoBo has very familiar sites, the bus deck gave a completely different perspective for me to take some good pictures.

After this we went to Ballard Bunder for a exhaustive trip to the The Indian Naval Ship Vikrant which is now a museum ship. The Naval guys were so cordial and good guides. People loved sitting in the cockpit of the Helicopter, a part of display in the museum. So did my girls. Par...yeh uda nahin...haha!! HT guys, next time please take me for copter ride over Bombay. I really want to take some good aerial shots.

More??? Are you crazy? Where was the strength left. Too much packed in one day. We headed straight home as I was craving for my good cup of lemongrass tea. Kids??? OMG, they were so tired. So everyone sat silent and then my younger girl suddenly picked up the remote to switch the TV on. "No!" I shrieked.
"Please mom I want to relax."
"Read a book No TV today, today is NO TV DAY."
"It was no TV day, now it is night."
"Sorry, the day will end at 12 midnight."
"Didn't we have a no TV week?"
We actually did but then today it was like a promise.

"Whatever! Please no TV today". That one came from my barely one and half year older to the younger one yet many years wiser elder daughter who is otherwise a avid TV watcher of Animax's Inuyasha series. That is on days when I don't play a Mugambo!!!

..........................and wait here's more, the little girl is a die hard negotiator. She said," OK, Can I have the internet then?"  ................................Abhi toh,  Momma has to turn Mugambo!!!

Mango Man celebrates Republic Day

Today I did not see the President taking a salute. Did not feel like watching those political criminals mocking a pseudo-patriotic emotion. I wanted to be a part of common man...mango man...aam aadmi's celebration and here it is how.

'What a beautiful day', thats how I felt riding on near empty roads on Republic day morning. Yes, I went riding on my cycle to Marine Drive. Met my Bandra cycle club friends. A group of young skaters came dressed wearing tricolor on their chests.

Came home and went back to Gateway Of India with my friends. Thats when we saw a stream of motorbikes  with tricolors zooming past near Regal.  At Gateway, we went from one group to another requesting them to join us for National Anthem. We sang the National Anthem with people from various provinces and states. Thanks to my friends and all those who connected right there, we had a great celebration this Republic day. Not a flash mob, because I did not want a rehearsed thing but an impromptu attempt by four of us saw a huge number of people singing together at Gateway. There was smiles all over. It was like mini India bonded together. The mango man celebrated the spirit of Republic Day.

At 4 pm, as an IAC volunteer, I am there one more time. PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN.

Jai Hind! Vande Matram!! Check out the pictures and one video on my timeline.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2555508173243

बहन जी, ढक के रखियेगा!!!

बहन जी, ढक के रखियेगा. ढक कर रखना जरूरी भी है.
आंध्र प्रदेश के पुलिस कमिश्नर ने कहा कि ढक कर रखेंगे तो बलात्कार कम होगा,
इलेक्शन कमिश्नर ने कहा की ढक कर नहीं रखा तो आचार (सहिंता) कम होगा.
खैर पुलिस कमिश्नर की बात पर तो विवाद हो गया पर बहन जी की हाथियों की फ़ौज को लबादों से ढक दिया गया.  कड़ाके की सर्दी में माया के हाथियों को गर्मी का अहसास खूब भाया होगा.

बहन जी का मायाजाल इतना बुरी तरह फैला हुआ है कि ढक ढक कर थक गए होंगे ढकने वाले. और कोई यह बताये कि ढकने वाले कपडे किस मिल से आये और उस का पैसा किसने दिया? इलेक्शन कमिश्नर ने?

भाई साहिब आप की समझ पर आश्चर्य होता है. बहन जी को मुफ्त में इतना भाव दे दिया. BSP के हाथियों को तो ढक दिया कांग्रेस के हाथों का क्या करेंगे. क्या सब को दस्ताने पहनवआएंगे? कसम से ताजुब्ब होता है कि देश किन लोगों के भरोसे छोड़ रखा है.

अच्छा एक बात और. कुछ लोग पूछ रहें हैं कि इस बार २६ जनवरी को बहादुर बच्चों को हाथी पे नहीं बिठायंगे क्या? अचार संहिता का हनन हो जायेगा अगर हाथी राजपथ पर चल दिया. क्योंकि हाथी सिर्फ मायावती का साथी बन के रह गया है.

एक गाना गुनगुनाने का मन कर रहा है. " नज़रों से कह दो आज कल ढकने का मौसम आ गया"

• Ritu Dadhwal Hath mein dastane aur paimane !!! Lekin Kamal ka kya karen ge? Suna hai chote size ke shower cap jaise kisi product ka bahut bada order place hua hai.LLLLLOOOOLLLL!!!!!!
  

  19 hours ago ·  ·  1
• 
  

  मृदुल प्रभा Has the order been placed already? I am going to start a Shower Cap making company. Actually I can start a company to make covers for all the election symbols. LOL>>>>ho ho ho ho...ho ho ho election bada sataye!!

Army Chief goes to Court against Indian Government

In an unprecedented move, the Army Chief has taken the age matter to the court. Its a disgrace to the ministry of defence and Indian Govt. PM Manmohan Singh has tried offering a carrot to the Chief by making him the Governor of Goa but Gen VK Singh has ignored the bait and decided to take the Govt head on. Congress is underplaying it but every body knows what game is being played. In any case do you think the corrupt and morally bankrupt Sonia's coterie would let an honest General continue in the office for one more year? If he does he will bring out many more skeletons, some of which may have matching DNA with the corrupt Government in the centre.

Every Indian must stand up for Gen. VK Singh. The country needs him more than he needs to continue in the office. If he stays in the chair for the term which is rightfully his, he will be handing over the baton to another very able and strong General in General Parnaik. 

sisiro A Common Man 

RT @mayaadvaita: AkAnthony wants a puppet army chief who will not question him.god save bharat frm the xian enemy within

29 minutes ago Favorite Undo Retweet 

syamjee Being Me... 

DOB issue of Army Chief is a creation of duck sitting by Defense Minister AK Antony, who never took any decision in his entire life...

Chellaney Brahma Chellaney 

By allowing a controversy over the army chief's date of birth to drag on since 2010, India's defense minister has showcased his incompetence

RoVatK Rohit Kashyap V 

Army Chief opposed UPA proposal to revoke AFSPA in Kashmir. That is the reason why the govt is desperate to send him out 1 year in advance

Shaelesh Shaelesh Prabhakar 

Nothing survives under Congress! One institution crumbling after the other! Now Army Chief goes to SC! Let us hang our heads in shame!

RoVatK Rohit Kashyap V 

If what the defence min says about Army Chief's DOB is right, then authorities who issued his SLC, driving license, passport, are all wrong.

writingdoll mridual 

#ArmyChiefAgeRow Holyshit! ExGenerals locked horns on national TV #IBN7 #IndianArmy what is this shame game?GenHoon sounds like a dictator.