Taamul

Life flows on promises, imperfect and frail Live-stream of unkept words trail What urges us then? To live, love Hopeless hope to find hope Dreams beyond love, love beyond dreams Entrapped life, evolution, creation’s intimate stream The beginning of the end or the end of beginning Love or death, keep wondering

This note is to explain the title and inspiration behind it. Its not an original title. I have actually used the title of one of my favorite movies, which I am sure many of you gus already are aware of! This is the imdb link to the movie:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116922/ It is directed by David Lynch. A dear friend from Norway introduced me to him and since then I have been completely hooked to his work. He is literally the 'dream merchant' which infact most folks in showbiz are aslo known as. But Dave (thats what I call him) is 'The Real Dream Merchant'. He sells us his vision of dreams through his movies. And his dreams err movies are in some ways real inspiration to let people dream! His movies looks more like a visual poetry..full of layers, not just vertically placed one above others but also layers which merge and unclasp seamlessly, overlapping from all possible directions...more like a complex three dimensional mesh of visuals transcending dreams and r...

I am always lonely; when the eyes close suddenly Whom can I take in my team; before I drift into my dream? From this world to that; Losing control like tit for tat Live and love but; take a flight beyond realities Where everyone is blind; I search for my own abilities Why are you scared; it’s no longer dark So colorful and warm; out there things seem to work I am telling you all my soul mates; you will definitely like the place Where bitches donot ditch and dogs donot bite; they just chase Searching for the line; that will cross me over Not just in sleep; or else I will be just another yawner Well inside the eyes; is one whole new universe? Where a rising sun is; but just another ordinary curse And lightning strikes the demons; making him char Always a spectator never an actor; why am I so far Why do I have to wake up? Or for that matter why do I have to sleep? I know what it is; my mind is soon gonna flip

Stripes and dots                   Lots and lots Color and creed Power and greed Man and woman Fair and Tan Pain and joy Shy and coy Coward and sacred Love and hatred Born and kill Injure and heal Tried and tested Created and wasted Don’t dig too deep Darn! O’ silly human Learn to learn U don’t need a lantern Out in the sun

A critical appreciation of UTV’s No One Killed Jessica (NOKJ), Jan 2011 I  rarely watch cinema through a critical lens since for me the whole motivation behind watching a movie is shuddh time pass and entertainment. But once in a while an odd movie ends up touching us in various ways and at different levels, transcending beyond time-pass entertainment and thus making our movie-watching experience more worthwhile and meaningful. NOKJ is one such movie, which bare-bones the Jessica Lal’s high profile case in a doc-drama format. Though the mainstream Hindi film Industry of India has never been known for skillful and clever adaptation of real life incidents, there have been a few brilliant exceptions to this rule. Anuraag Kashyap’s “Black Friday’ a splendid & first-class cinematic adaptation of Mumbai blasts of 1993 while staying close to real events, comes to mind. NOKJ is a close second in recent cinematic history.  In this overtly male biased In...

In view of the current physical and psychological assault on Arundhati Roy accusing her of indulging in polemics and anti-nationalism, I would wish to counter-argue that Ms. Roy instead is the perfect sacrificial doll for the sensation-starved print & electronic media of India. In the following passages I try to trace the origins of this fiercely independent and radical writer-activist of India, the first steps into her transformation into a phantom that continue to haunt, bruise and traumatize the political establishment and the fatuous mass-media (print and visual). In the current times, many of  their   sympathizer and well wishers would wonder if  Ms Roy happen to be so unfortunate that she won the booker prize before she started her politics/opinion came to be noticed? Was it her fault or the media's which jumped at the opportunity of publishing a booker winner! One might find this profile of Ms Roy interesting. It w...

A response to the World Health organisation and UNICEF’s report 'Diarrhoea: Why Children Are Still Dying and What Can Be Done' (2009), which  pointed out that India has the largest number of persons that defecate in the open worldwide. I strongly oppose this westernized view of sanitation & hygiene. Defecating in the open is not just a hygienic issue but a socio-cultural, historical, economic, political & environmental issue. The point of contention being that health is jeopardized due to open-defecation is highly ridiculous. I argue that its failure of the state which is primarily responsible for the poor health rather than the prevalent defecation practices. ·          Many cultures & society across India has age-old tradition of defecating in the open. Most parts where open defecation is practiced are parts with water scarcity & low rainfall. There are many community defecating practices which are of speci...