Close encounters of first kind!!

To start on a disappointing note for Spielperg fans this blog is not about aliens!!! But then what is it about...read on:

Some people have a way with the words. Our GM is one of them. He is bestowed with the lucidity of usage of words and the way he uses them seems to be directly picked out of some bestseller, the only difference being they are his words. But this blog is not about him either ;-)

This piece is about cultures and people. I recently had an encounter of first kind with some Irish people. This was my first instance of such a prolonged interaction with the people from the west. Though they are as human as we are, certain traits which they had were too funny to ignore and certainly needed a blog. Read this and no prizes for guessing which character is not Indian.

Instance 1:

"What the f#$k have you done to your machine?

Sorry?

I mean why did you restart the system? Where did you see that step?

Release notes...

Release notes!!Oh you must be kidding!!!Developers are God, do you think they care about release notes...that bloody doc is as old as me. Use the goddamn doc I gave you."

Instance 2:

"We use a lot of "ish" in Ireland for our timings. As in if we plan to meet someone at 9:30, we would say we will meet 9:30ish. But it is strange to see that Indians also have a very informal "ish" which though they do not mention is pretty evident from the way they turn up for formal trainings as well.

Hehehe...on this note we shall take a break for 10 minutes and should return back 11:15 iisssssssssssssss....hehehe"

Instance 3:

"She seems to have hollow legs!!

There is some problem with her legs??

No...I mean she can drink a lot and with all that alcohol not having any effect, we just deduced that she must be having hollow legs!!"

Instance 4:

"How urgent are top priority bugs?"

"Well critical bugs need to be resolved yesterday"

Instance 5:

"I tell you if you fix this I will buy you a beer"

"No I don't drink. Thank you"

Instance 6:

"Since most of the servers we have there are doing nothing but SFA...well you must have guessed it...just call it Sweet Fanny Adams ;-)"

मेह

नीर पिपासु धमनियों में
विद्युत का संचार हुआ,
धरती के वक्ष में जब
बारिश का प्रहार हुआ।

घटाओं के शोर में
हर्ष का प्रचार हुआ,
बूंदों के होड़ में
रंज का संहार हुआ।

सृष्टि जैसे धुल गयी
रंग नए भर गए,
प्रीत की ओट में
उष्ण भी लाचार हुआ।

मेह के बहाव में
दृश्य भी निखर गयी,
सुशुप्त चेतना हुई बेचैन
समग्र सीमाओं का विस्तार हुआ;
नीर रंजित बाण से
आर्द्र का प्रवाह हुआ॥

Love story and other conversations - 2

ACT -2: (Please refer last post for a short introduction of the characters and ignore Sr Engineer's grammar)

Sr Er: You studying in Bangalore?
Er: No I am working.
Sr Er: Which company?
Er: Oracle.
Sr Er: Oh! I am working in i-Trust technologies. So how long you been staying there at Bangalore?
Er: Close to 8 years now. I had done my engineering from Bangalore Institute of Technology and then got placed at Infosys.
Sr Er: But you said Oracle?
Er: Last September I left Infy and joined Oracle.
Sr Er: Hmmm...You know with time these things becomes pretty boring. Doing the same job again and again. I have people in my team who has been doing this for 7-8 years now. They remember most of the stuff and now we solve bugs in a matter of minutes. By the way, I am Parimal Dham.
Er: I am Vinayak Shukla. You are in a maintenance project?
Sr Er: Not exactly. We have development as well. We do it in Java which is like working with needle and haystack.
Er: Finding needle in haystack!!
Sr Er: Yeah!! Exactly. Working with Java is more finding the correct API which someone must has already written. Just google it and if you doesn't get it you are doomed.
Oracle has taken over Sun right?
Er: Yes for some 8 billion dollars I think.
Sr Er: What are they going to do with it?
Er: He he...nothing they can not anyway touch Java because it has become such a huge name now, needles and haystack notwithstanding.
Sr Er: He he!!
After a pause,
There is one department in IT industry which is redundant.
Er: HR??
Sr Er: Perfect guess!! See anyway they don't have any control over the annual assessment of employees since it is the engineer's boss who can override any comment which the HR provide. However there are people in my team who are trying maskofying these HR people. Strange!!
Er: And does it help?
Sr Er: Don't know. Because the people I am talking about have their own groups.
Er: You mean regional grouping?
Sr Er: Yes. They work together, as in I have seen they doing each other's work. Once we were talking about a design of a certain function. I ask one guy about it. He is clueless. Then I give him a hint, start with the number and type of input parameters. He is looking at me as I am talking French and the next day he gave me the complete code. I was appreciative initially but then when I try digging into it I see that he seem to have just copied it from somewhere or someone else have done it for him.
Er: Strange. How do such people survive in the industry?
Sr Er: Only such people survive and become your boss. Such boss has no idea how things are to be done. What they are concerned about is deadlines and meetings with clients.
Er: I had seen such species when I was working at Infosys.
Sr Er: There are hordes in such big companies. And what do these people talk in meetings?
Prasoon, you have not shaved. What is that you are wearing, Sheela? I want people to come in formals. What you guys wear is not formals but business casuals.
I had this business head who joined us from some manufacturing company. He used to talk such stuff since he has no idea about the software industry.
Er: He he...I know of this manager who talks to engineers about how girls are there just for encouragement and keep the guys in the team happy. Ridiculous!!
Sr Er: Ha ha...And I bet he did not know a thing about how exactly the work needs to be done.
Er: Yes. He used to call his sub-ordinates to the meetings with clients to give updates regarding the project.
Sr Er: There are such people in Oracle as well!!
Er: No I was talking about my experience at Infosys.
Sr Er: Which project you were working on?
Er: I was in the telecom project and was working for Nortel.
Sr Er: And this manager you are talking about. What was his name?
Er: Shyamal Dham!!
Silence,
I mean the guy was good.........
End of conversation.

Love story and other conversations-1

Let me first attract every one's attention. There is a universal law, which any bachelor who has travelled on a train, or any public mode of transport for that matter, would vouch for. The law has been termed by yours truly as "Universal law of Beauty and the Berth", which states that:
"Probability of a girl occupying a berth next to you on a train is inversely proportional to her beauty".

Now that I have your attention let me tell the reader that this blog is a frail attempt at writing a play (not the Shakespearean style, laden with various figures of speech but pretty normal without anything about the characters mindset).

The characters:
Engineer(Er): A traveller and a SW engineer.

High School Teacher (HST): Teacher and the lover.

Sr Engineer(SEr): Another senior SW engineer who has seen all and still clinging on.
Housewives(Hw): There are at least three, with at least one being a Bengali.
An would-be engineer(Wb): All passionate about the big bad world and may be a little about engineering as well.

This is going to be just a series of dialogues hence the ambience and the costume is left to the imagination of the reader. Though the setting is essentially a typical Indian Rail compartment.

ACT 1:

HST: You must be my junior...let me tell you that the world is really tough. By the way which year did you do your 10th?
Er: 1997
HST: Oh that makes you my senior by an year. May be I have seen world better than you.
Er: How old are you?
HST: I am 26 and work as a High School Teacher. I had gone on an election duty to a place called Akhripur.
Er: Where is the place?
HST: 25 kms before Jasidih. The place was amazing, surrounded by hills and hardly any living being around.
Er: Naxal belt?
HST: Yes. Thankfully I experienced all this before my marriage.
Er: Yes it would have been tough for your wife to stay at such a place.
HST: No the government doesn't provide accomodation for spouse. Besides it was just a 2-day duty.
Er: So your folks are thinking of your engagement now?
HST: God knows what they are thinking. They are seeing a few girls but not exactly keen on one which I like.
After a pause,
The thing is I like the girl and whoever has seen her photo has told me she is the best one for me. She is very beautiful but my parents are asking for a dowry of 4 lacs. Her folks have very limted means and I don't think they can arrange for it.
Er: Oh!!
HST: Anyway I talk to her on phone and try consoling her.
Er: What is your name?
HST: I am Rajeev Kumar Bhardwaj.
Er: I am Vinayak Shukla.
HST: Brahmin?
Er: Yes.
HST: Have you ever heard a story which starts as "Once upon a time lived a poor Rajput", it is always "Once upon a time lived a poor Brahmin".
Er: Hehe...True.
HST: Once she had called me to Deoghar and asked me to meet her near that Naulakha Mandir. Since she has not seen me she has that urge. You know what, in cases of marriage only if the girl's side has money you can make demands that you want to see the guy before proceeding with other formalities.
Er: So did you go?
HST: No I didn't. You see it could have been bad for both her and me. If someone from her end had seen me it would have created some problem for my family and if her friends or relatives had come to know about it her character would have been maligned. There is another family who is ready to give me 5 lacs and a bike but am not interested in that girl. But my family seems to be more than interested.
Er: So what are you thinking now?
HST: I seldom call her now thinking that we might end up getting a bad name for our respective families.
After a long pause,
However in my last call I have told her to be ready. I would take her away to some place and we will marry.
Er: Gandharva vivah!!

पाखंडों की दुनिया में हम
द्वेश्दर्शी बन गए,
हाथ में लेकर परचम
बडबडाते चल दिए।

ना कूदेंगे मैदान में हम
श्रेष्ठता सिर मौर लिए,
वाक्-योधा बन के हम
दूर से ही हंस लिए।

आपके ही मौन से
ये बिलखता कौन है?
आँखें ऊपर को टिका
वर्तमान कुचलते चल दिए।

चलना उस पथ हैं नही
दिशाओं के अर्थ गुल किए,
टिप्पणियों की वर्षा से फ़क़त
मुद्दा ही हल्का कर गए।

Gulaal -- Khushki ke rang!!

Anurag Kashyap - the maverick!!! This is another amazing movie from him and is perfect release after Dev D...Kind of complements Dev D.
Like his last movie, Anurag Kashyap's Gulaal is colorful but political!!
Few scenes which remained with me even after the movie:

1) "Motorcycle hai aur kya hai...gaadi hai, bangla hai....mere paas ma hai!!", and a desi katta makes an appearance. This is the best spoof of the hackneyed "Mere paas ma hai" jokes I remember.
2) Piyush Mishra ( I read he was in contention to play Salman Khan's character in Maine Pyaar Kiya) singing:
"Oh re Bismil kaash aate aaj tum Hindustaan ..Dekhte ki mulk saara kya tashan, kya chill mein hai ...Aaj ka launda yeh kehta hum to bismil thak gaye ...Apni aazaadi to bhaiya laundiya ke til mein hai...Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna ab humaarey dil main hai"
-- Cynicism thy name is Piyush Mishra!!!
3) Ransa driving his bullet with army wala helmet -- Too Good!!!

Anurag Kashyap has given a regal twist to political movies (Haasil was the last one, on the same wavelength, that I remember). Rananjay's entry in the movie is another scene which etches its own space in your psyche. His character enters with a bang and its end is equally intriguing but the impact is perfect.

You can never miss Prithvi bana (Piyush Mishra) and his cynical songs. In his world even John Lennon is a Rajput, with a moustache to complete the look.
The movie can be described as one with a serious message: Anger needs a direction and an anger on detour is the best weapon in politics!!

Aarambh is the theme song of the movie and has an earthy feel to it. Loud musical words with that Dinkarish touch in it. Probably Piyush Mishra's words are the perfect match for Anurag Kashyap's madness. The duo if stick around for long can give us some real wonderful movies and I would give my right hand to watch this gathjod shine.

शब्द

अभिमान की वो झलकियाँ
भंजन हो या कोप का
शब्दों की लड़ियों में
प्रकट करो, बखान दो।

प्रकाश के अभाव में
जो ख़याल दब गए
संकोच को दशमांश कर
आज उनको कंठ दो।

मूर्खों की अज्ञानता में
शब्द यूँ ही बह गए
प्रज्ञ के मौन से
प्रकाष्ठ कितने खुल गए।

शब्दों की भीढ़ में
निशब्द का भी अर्थ है
ढाल है किसी की तो
कभी आधिपत्य का प्रमाण है;
निशब्द की कतार में
थाम लो, बाँध लो
शब्दों की लड़ियों में
प्रकट करो, बखान दो ।

गुज़रा जमाना याद आता है

मेरा उसको कनखियों से देखना बार बार
और उसका वो मुस्कुराना याद आता है

मेरी उठती गिरती सी साँस
और उसका हवाओं की तरह इतराना याद आता है

कस्तूरी जैसे दिन महकते थे
मेरी रातों का गुनगुनाना याद आता है

आंखों का वो बेपरवाह मिल जाना
और उनका अनायास ही झुक जाना याद आता है

रातों को तनहा याद में किसीकी
धुआं उडाता एक दीवाना याद आता है

जो कह न सके वो फ़साना याद आता है
गुज़रा हुआ दिलकश ज़माना याद आता है

PS: Inspired ;)

मन

तुम गगन, तुम्ही क्षितिज
गर्त तुम, अन्धकार तुम
ज्ञान के प्रकाष्ठ तुम

तुम्ही साहस, भय तुम
तुम्ही छल, पाप तुम

तुम विरोध, अवलंब तुम
तुम त्याग, प्रलोभन तुम

तुम विशाल, तुम प्रगाढ़
सूक्ष्म तुम, संकीर्ण तुम

तुम मंथन, शिथिल तुम
तुम लगाव, विरह तुम

तुम इर्ष्या, अवरोध तुम
तुम्ही मोड़, राह तुम
अन्जाम तुम

हे मानव मन -
जीवन सागर की अथाह में
तुम अमृत, विष भी तुम ।।

अवरोध

वो अडिग, अटल चट्टान खड़ा

लहरों के बीच अडा;

चंचला चपला लहरों की -

अठखेलियों को देख हँसा

होड़ में वो उठ आती हैं,

बस चरण निर्मल कर जाती हैं ।

लहरों को भान हमेशा है

सामंजस्य नीयमशीलता ही उनका पेशा है ।

चट्टान मंद-मंद मुस्काता है,

अपनी उत्कृष्टता पर इठलाता है ।

व्यर्थ उसका अभिमान है,

जीवन चक्र से लगता अनजान है ।

अनभिज्ञ चट्टान के विचारों से

लहरें अविरत कर्म में लगी रहती हैं ।


रुकने का जब नाम न हो
चट्टानों को भी झुकना पड़ता है,
अलंकार रहित, अविरल इस दृढ़ जीवन की
अपनी ही सुन्दरता है ।।

चरमान्त

आज इस चरमान्त पर
सोचता हूँ मैं खड़ा

कैसे पहुंचा यहाँ तक
गुमाँ भी ना हो सका

धुंध पीछे दिख रही बस
सब कुछ उसमे है दबा

आगे दिखता क्यूँ नहीं कुछ
विचारों में क्यूँ द्वंद्व हुआ

एक अदना सी ज़िन्दगी से
हर किसी को यही डर है

पलट कर देखें उसे हम
और शून्य का एहसास है!!

Rediscovering My Religion- Tendulkar still my God!!!

Though I have always been a spiritual person I have never considered myself religious. My religion and God were chosen by my conscience when the world saw the rise of Sachin Tendulkar. It is tough, rather blasphemous, to place someone at such a pedestal, for in a country like India every town has its own Godman, the supposed incarnation of God. But not every Godman has the humility and the skills which sways an entire nation.And this God doesn't use His tongue to converse but it His divine skills with the willow that does most of the talking.

With God in His last leg of an illustrious career I was almost losing my religion but then IPL infused a new life into my beliefs. The God has not been replaced though, how would He be God if He is replaced, yet the beliefs have been redefined. IPL has provided the much needed shot-in-the-arm to the ailing cricket following, which was on borrowed oxygen. And it has refurbished my faith.

Cricket in India became a passion shortly after the win at Lord's by Kapil's devils. Though I was too young to understand the quantum attached to such a win, when I see the toothy smile of Kapil Dev holding aloft the Prudential Cup at Lord's in those archived videos, it gives me a strange nostalgic feeling.

1989 was the year when Tendulkar made his debut against Pakistan. I do not remember anything of that tour even. I just remember my elder cousins, who were avid cricketers themselves, talking about a certain Waqar Younis and his bloody - no metaphor this - bouncer. It was in 1992 that I could understand why most of the Indians decided to adopt a new religion, Cricket and our God, Sachin Tendulkar. The world cup was never a memorable affair for India, save the Prudential Cup. But it was Tendulkar's Cup and so were the future versions. What pains me is God wished to bring back the Cup home and it seems the elements are all conspiring against Him. So far they have been fooling themselves cos it is just God's human side and 2011 is not far away!!

Dev D - The Emosanal Atyachar!!!

Dev D is not for hypocrites!!For people who love to do cover-ups and push things under the carpet, this movie is a serious NO!!! You want to face the reality and not crib whenever faced with it then you are welcome to Mr Anurag Kashyap's real world.

My original review, just after the movie, would have been very different but it is after one week that the movie seems to be growing upon me. I have used the terms - breezy, wild and explicit for the movie and that is exactly what I felt when I saw this movie. But love it or loathe it you can never ignore Dev D. It is in your face real world and very different from the hypocritical mushy love stories that Karan Johar is so adept at showing.

The film is set in colorful Punjab and would be disappointing for Sharat Chandra fans as there is no element of Bengal in this modern avatar of the eternal lover or loser (it is just a swap of a letter but with a drastic change in meaning or are they same......who cares!!). My friends said that Sharat Chandra must be turning in his grave on such an interpretation. But this piece is not credited to Sharat Chandra so why should he care, in fact even the story is different.

Abhay Deol is not Abhay Deol in this movie. He is Dev D, frustrated to hilt with no one to blame for his own mistakes. And finally knowing the difference between lust and love to choose the right one. Dare I say that Abhay Deol has surpassed most of the able actors in depicting the frustration, the pain that Dev D goes through. An outstanding performance.

All the characters are well developed. The three main characters have even tracks dedicated to them.
Chanda - Yehi meri zindagi hai!!
Paro - Payalia!!
Dev D - Duniya, Aankh micholi, Saali Khushi, Nayan Tarse!!

Yes Dev D is the protagonist, he needs more songs. The music is amazing, awesome and very "Dev D"ish. Each song is very different yet with the same soul. And with so many instruments used for the effect that you are taken to Dev D's world if you listen to them, lyrics just apt for the situations, words carefully chosen, even Patna ke Presley's "Emosanal Atyachar" sounds good and last heard was already a rage in colleges!!!

The most interesting characters are the "Twilight Players". They are in most of the scenes where Dev D is washing down his frustration with alcohol. Suited-booted as gentlemen, though they can be placed in the dark underbelly of any metro of India. Some artistic twist here which my brain could not decipher but surely interesting.

This is Anurag Kashyap's first movie which I have seen. And he has done great work to captain such a cast, which boasts of two new comers as main leads. If you carefully watch the movie you see a lot of reference being made to Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas. Was that intentional or Kashyap's way to make light of Bhansali's version is something which only Kashyap can answer.

युगांतर या युगांत

बहुत संजो कर कुछ साहस रखा था
थोडी हलकी-फुल्की आशा भी
आज कोई उसे छल रहा है

आशा तो पवन की संगिनी लगती है
उसी के रुख पर थिरकती है
और साहस सहमा सा एक बचपन
झिड़क के डर से कोने में दुबका हुआ

युगांतर का अनुभव है ये--
या युगांत का...

रात मुझे भी टटोलने लगा अँधेरा

रात मुझे भी टटोलने लगा अँधेरा
क्यूँ विचारों के रंग उस जैसे लगते हैं
झिझक क्यूँ अब भी रहती है ?

क्यूँ वो आशा मन को स्थिर नही करती
इतना कोलाहल क्यूँ हर जगह कायम है?
ज़िन्दगी कईयों की क्यूँ पथभ्रष्ट लगती है?

रात मुझे भी टटोलने लगा अँधेरा
ये जूनून सा मन में कैसे जग जाता है?
कैसे मौत का खौफ धुआं हो जाता है?

वस्फ़* की टोकरी क्यूँ तिरस्कृत पड़ी रहती है ?
अन्तर-द्वंद अब बस विचारों में क्यूँ है?
रात मुझे भी टटोलने लगा अँधेरा...

*वस्फ़- merit

मैंने इन्ही आंखों से मौसम को बदलते देखा है...

मैंने इन्ही आंखों से मौसम को बदलते देखा है
ग्रीष्म की वो तपती धूप देखी है
आलस्य से लिप्त जाड़े की दोपहर को देखा है
बरसात की भीगी मनमोहक मिटटी देखी है

मैंने इन्ही आंखों से मौसम को बदलते देखा है
तपते शब्दों में मुरझाये हुए जोश को देखा है
छिपाई हुई सूखी मुस्कान देखी है
मरासिम के गहन पेंचों को देखा है

मैंने इन्ही आंखों से मौसम को बदलते देखा है
बेरस जिंदगी में रसभरा बदलाव देखा है
नरम शब्दों में सोज़ का इज़हार देखा है
छीटों से रंगों का निखार देखा है

मैंने इन्ही आंखों से मौसम को बदलते देखा है....

You can not just quit Mr. Patil!!!!

Like most of the Indians I woke up today with a sense of frustration. The morning news had a few words from our elected representatives and thankfully so. As I switched on my TV there was a breaking news that Shivraj Patil had offered to quit during one of the high-level meetings of the union ministers.

You can not do that Mr. Patil!!!!! We elected you and your dear Madam offered you our caretaker's post. After this horrendous act by the terrorists you can not just shun your responsibilities and offer resignation. The best rather the only thing you can do is re-order our house before you leave. You can not leave a mess and think that someone else will take this responsibility. You were not offered this responsibility to maintain your gelled look, even though from your eventful tenure it seems you did only that.

My mind was raging with such thoughts. May be I was also thinking of sending a postal mail to Mr. Patil that my call-bell rang. My chain of thought was broken but that sense of frustration never subsided. As I opened the door I saw a face which poured the proverbial oxygen on my already infuriated mind. He was our vehicle cleaner who like most of our politicians had been doing a horrible job, since last week. And I did exactly what an average person would have done - Vented all my ire on him till his eyes changed from a shocking wide to a pleading wide.

"Sir sorry sir!! Given it to a friend sir...was not well...not good sir...will do it myself now sir" he offered his usual excuses in Kanglish. Yes that is the language which some people try to communicate in Bangalore and if you are a software engineer you are bound to get a bountiful of that.

"See we pay you for a service...at least make yourself worthy of that money" isn't it a typical software engineer response. We always tend to think in terms of assets, worth, issues et al.

"Next week leaving for native sir...not coming back!!!" he threw another shock.

So he had only come for his money. Isn't he another Mr. Patil? No care, not answerable for the callous act of his. Aren't we all someway similar to our home minister (he still is, at least till the time I publish this post)?

Do we care for our work being done without any callousness? Everyday I see people not caring for rules, be it the imposed traffic rules or the non-imposed civic ones. Is it some kind of Indianness that binds us or better still is it that elusive national integration that those old fellas used to talk about?

But still Mr. Patil this is not in support of you. You can not just pass the buck by resigning.

I had another thoughtful round which has resulted in the following random thoughts:

1) We are a billion-strong nation, but why is there a shortage of staff? Be it in government offices or our government undertakings or army for that matter. I know to get into army one needs special skills but who says we can not mould ourselves
2) Why can not politicians be made answerable? Public memory is so short that by the time we go for another round of elections our memory loss helps us in forgiving the erring elected representatives.
3) Why can not we have an year of compulsory military training and another of compulsory service (as a friend suggested)? Besides instilling discipline, it will help us in understanding our role as responsible citizens.

PS: As I complete this blog, I hear Mr. Patil has resigned. So you turned out to be another mere mortal, after all!!! Taking the path of least resistance.

Truth will Find its Way!!!

Dumped in the sleaze,
Twisted by many mindless noughts
Shrouded under thick layers
Made complicated by multiple thoughts
Ignored by the ubiquitous "Who cares?"

Lost in a corner
Of the humongous space-time curve
Put in the literal back-burner
By the agitated nerve.

Though cowards just chicken out and fear to say
But Truth will for sure find its way!!

Welcome to Sajjanpur-My experience!!

There are very few things in this world which throw you into a sea of nostalgia. Take for instance the smell of jasmine on a moonlit night. It surely reminds one of the good old days of careless wanderings in the pre-pubescent age where most of the things are mysteries to the small undeveloped brain.

For me it was the dialogues of "Welcome to Sajjanpur", besides the visual rendering of some of the scenes in the movie by the director par-excellence, Shyam Benegal, that made me almost drown in that sea.

"Welcome to Sajjanpur hai yaar...just 130 bucks!!! Chalna hai", I shouted from my room to my roommate who was busy with one of his bang-bang games.

"Le lo!!! It is damn cheap yaar". 130 bucks per ticket is cheap cos we have spent many a night watching some real dabba movies and even paying 250 per head for some real ludicrous ones. These multiplexes have changed the way one used to watch a movie.
Night show it was!!

Cursing our luck and the Bangalore traffic we reached our destination just in time but directly headed towards McDonald's to cater to our famished tummies. Our plate was full of aloo and its variants as is the norm there and as we gorged our teeth into the McD's veg tikki, we heard this, "Abhishek Bachhan looks like an overgrown aloo tikki man and his look is taken from...".
I am not an avid gamer so I dont remember the last syllable that was uttered but it is sure that he had used the name of some very popular game. Besides that thing about aloo tikki almost killed our apetite.

Semblance or no semblance to Abhishek Bachhan, we removed that thread of thought and finished our stuff to rush towards our screen. I was shocked to see many people hurrying for the Sajjanpur show. The screen next to ours was playing "Drona" the Abhishek-Priyanka mythological superhero movie, a unique concept or so they had thought. So this is what they were comparing to an overgrown tikki - may be McD can pool in AB for their promos - simple reason being people can, and may I say do, find resemblance to the stuff that McD sells.

As the movie started I was taken to a different world altogether. The story was based in a small village and each character was so well written that they looked real to me. I was almost like "This is Tiwari Chachi, munna bhaiya, pappu, jhaji...I know them all". For me bred in a small town, identifying with the characters was never a problem but then even the events and dilaogues. It was almost surreal.

How many people, save the Biharis and eastern UPradeshis, would understand "gai bihayee hai"? It was one of the few dialogues which made "Welcome to Sajjanpur" pretty unique. There were some dialogues which were "apparently" obscene but for the chaste hindi used to nullify the effect. And the best part was only a few understood it.

For me the movie was not a fictional story of some village in some remote part of the country, it was almost like the story of my own village. Not to mention I loved the experience better than Aloo tikki and its twin brother.

विरोधाभास

भंवर है, उत्पात है
जलन है, विरह है
राख है ,धूल है
विकीर्ण है, वृहद् है
शोर है, विस्फोट है

सुन्दरता है, जोश है
सदाचार है, परोपकार है
खुशबू है, रंग है
प्रीत है, दया है
इच्छा है, सोच है
जज़्बा है, उमंग है
प्रकाश है और आशा है

शायद इसलिए ज़िन्दगी है