!?15th Park Avenue?!

One of the depressing Hindi movies I have ever seen after perhaps the tragic Tere Naam. With some strong star cast lead by Shabana Azmi accompanied by an equally strong director Aparna Sen, 15 Park Avenue does leave its impression behind. The remaining part of this writing is only for those who actually saw the movie though nobody is stopping you from reading ahead.
There are some strong pointers which exist along with some weaker ones which take us to the direction in which the movie unfolds itself at the end. The fact that Park Avenue exist in Manhattan, New York and not anywhere in India, the doctor is paying more attention and listening to Shabana Aazmi more than the imaginary patient, the same doctor at the very end takes Shabana away from Park Avenue even though everyone is wondering where her sister is – perhaps indicate that the Shabana Aazmi herself is living in a schizophrenic world and could not bear the death of her younger sister or her disappearance (to Manhattan) and at the end starts thinking that her sister did reach where she wanted to be. That moment itself, doctor realizes that this could be the time for her farewell to the hallucinations and entry to the real world and takes her away.
I wonder how this movie went unnoticed or does this movie never really exist to be noticed. For most of you who were left thinking about the last sentence, it goes to show that we all have a tendency to be schizophrenic and there is a very subtle line of difference between the reality and our imagination.

Did Austra[lie] win the match OR India lose it?

Transition of Gentleman’s game to  the Crick[ex] (The X-Factor) level.

Shabash Jumbo!!!!

There are many cricketers(read sportspersons) who deserve a space in this post but this one is solely for Anil Kumble aka Jumbo. He has been with the Indian cricket team for more than 16 years, without actually getting the due recognition. So many times he has been kept out, bashed by the commentators, selectors, followers but he is still going strong. He has been criticized by being termed as a spinner who could not turn the ball. Furthermore, there are talks about his poor foreign record.But to me Kumble will always be ahead of his peers not just because I feel he has taken more wickets or he is in some way better than them but simply because even with this limited capability, he has extracted the maximum out of it. It does not matter if he spins the ball or not…trust me when conditions are favorable; he is even more deadly than the legendary Warne or the freakish Murali. Kumble has played a major part in
India’s clean home winning record. We just cannot undermine his performance by saying that the tracks were tailor-made for spinners. Why then, on those very tracks, other world class spinners could not even remotely measure up to Kumble’s productivity levels?  I sometimes wonder if he could spin the ball as much as Murali or add some more variations to his bowling, how deadly he could have been considering the fierce determination that goes with it.   

Towards Paradigm Shifts!!!

I have never tried my hand at self-help books. I found them far away from reality till I caught hold of this amazingly written book. The result was that I bought some more books of Robin Sharma, the author of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and the rest is history. I have become a big fan of Robin Sharma rather his ideas and I usually make it a point to have a glimpse through his blog- post which according to me can be termed as the food for the soul. I particularly like this quote for some unknown reasons: The mind should be programmed by doing a certain activity same time each day so that the activity is cultivated into a habit.
Here I am restating the Ten rituals straight from the book. It won’t make much sense here but at least might act as an impetus for someone to grab a copy themselves and devour the ideas.

1. Rituals of Solitude: The idea is to spend 15 to 50 minutes alone in silence. It will act as a great rejuvenating source and will help in achieving the necessary balance of our turbulent mind

2. Ritual of Physicality: It talks about spending at least five hours in a week in some form of vigorous exercise to unleash the assets of vitality.

3. Ritual of Live Nourishment: Live food, created through the intersection of sun, air, soil and water, should be given the preference as compared to dead food. Though it’s alright to consume dead food (meat etc) once in a while keeping in mind the timeless principle of sages “one must live a life of moderation and do nothing to extremesWhat is more enriching is not what you get out of the books but what the books get out of you.

5. Ritual of Personal Reflection: Give yourself a yardstick for measuring improvement by keeping an eye on what and how you are going about your daily chores. The only way to improve tomorrow is to know what you did wrong today.

6. Ritual of Early Awakening: Six hours of sound sleep is enough to stay healthy and alert as it is the quality of sleep that matter more than the quantity. If it sounds too painful, remember the old age saying Pain is often the precursor to personal growth.

7. Ritual of Music : Music to many of us is the finest motivators. It can get rid of old cynicism, negativity and aggressiveness. It makes us feel good and say to ourselves..Hey..Let’s Go!!!

8. Ritual of Spoken Word : Reciting a series of mantras morning, noon and night is really effective in keeping ourselves focused, strong and happy and helps in keeping our minds free.

9. Ritual of Congruent Character: Take daily incremental actions to build your character keeping the ageless principles like industry, compassion, humility, patience, honesty and courage in mind. You sow a thought, you reap an action. Reap an action, you sow a habit. Sow a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap your destiny.

10. Ritual of Simplicity: In order to have a life that’s uncluttered, rewarding and exceptionally peaceful, focus only on your priorities, those activities that are truly meaningful. Do not make your happiness contingent on finding that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

A Simple Thought

This writing is not about whether it was justified to send RDB for Oscars and not LRMB, not about whether international audience can relate more with Gandhi and not with Bhagat Singh but it is about comparing the relative merit of contrasting messages that these two movies put forward.Is the message that the stylized RDB puts forward really the message that can help our society to get rid of corruption and move forward towards the path of progress or is it the LRMB’s message that can help our ever-deteriorating society towards positive development. RDB, synchronization between the past and the contemporary, is no doubt a more hard-hitting movie than LRMB as it revolves around the role that the youth of the country can play in the future but is the message that it sends across the right message. It might be something that youth of today can relate with but is it the right way of tackling some of the common issues of our society or is the Gandhi wadi better way of tackling it. Is it too difficult to follow Gandhi-wadi these days and too easy to act like what RDB youth’s did. No doubt they sacrificed their life to set an example for the other people or for youth to put some serious thought for the society but is it the right message that’s sent across. Everything boils down to the fact that whether you feel Bhagat Singh ideology was correct or was it Gandhi’s. If we look at our history…is there any reasoning behind why ideas of  Gandhiji is glorified and not Bhagat Singh ‘s. It might be too difficult to adopt Gandhi wadi these days but isn’t this what our conscience tells us to do. Isn’t it relatively easier to follow the path of Bhagat Singh or what bunch of youth’s in RDB did. No doubt they laid their lives to set an example for their countrymen but was it right way of doing it and the example that they set was it justified enough. It’s a natural human instinct to fight with each other or to adopt violence method but doesn’t it require larger than life qualities to adopt the non-violence or the right way of achieving things. Is it too late for us to follow what path Gandhiji has set for us or is it something out of fashion to follow it .