A few thoughts on a couple of things…both topping the news channels about a week
ago.
First off, I have heard and read enough about Dr. Rajkumar’s death. For those not in the know, Rajkumar is Kannada cinema’s best-loved actor, got a honorary doctorate, got himself a free vacation at the expense of infamous sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, and played a 26 year old in a film when he himself was a 70-year old grandfather. And did I mention, was elevated to a status of demi-god by his fans?
From the looks of it, Bangalore (to make a generalization) cannot accept the basic processes of nature: lifa and death…after news of Rajkumar’s death spread, thousands of (supposed) fans took to the streets and burned down busses, beat up cops (who were in no position to even tackle, let alone handle, the situation). The city went crazy for a couple of days…I was watching the footage on the news channels closely for the expressions on the mob’s faces…one bugger, who managed to climb onto the ambulance carrying his mortal remains, had this expression: LOOK AT ME! I GOT ON TO RAJUMKAR’S HEARSE VAN! AM I A PRIZE IDIOT OR WHAT?
Or maybe, as NDTV’s Nupur Basu had to say, that this anger was against the system…it was just waiting for an outlet. Rajkumar’s death provided that spark, which caused all the mob fury…coz when you think about it, what was the fury against?
And for Numero two…
Ms. Medha Patkar, I salute you. For twenty days, you fasted for 3500 families in the most godforsaken parts of the country, with no personal gain, except maybe a sense of satisfaction…for twenty (or more) years, you have supported the cause of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, for what? For the noble notions of helping the poor, and making a difference to the society…for giving a voice to those unlettered masses, whose sole way of making a living for themselves is tilling their fields, and who know not any other way of life…for people whose familiarity with a Big Mac ranks alongside my familiarity of the methods of growing rice…
After Gandhi, its taken a long time for someone to go on a hunger strike for a cause (and no, I do not include Narendra Modi’s a-few-minutes-fast…)…I hope that your efforts for the people of the Narmada valley are not in vain…and I leave you with this…
SATYAMEVA JAYATE
LET TRUTH PREVAIL
Friday, April 21, 2006
Friday, April 14, 2006
Who said Indians were quirky, and that the country is run by a bunch of doddering old fools whose only interests are to have stupid power tussles amongst themselves? Click here for more.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Links 2,3,4
And for today, a few links which are worth reading...
From today's Hindu Magazine:
Ramchandra Guha charts the course of India's national game, hockey, in his own inimitable style
Sevanti Ninan's weekly column, Media Matters, takes a look at the illegal radio station in Bihar
http://seulementme.blogspot.com/2006/03/humour-ripped-and-burned.html
check out the quotes, especially the woody allen ones
http://buggydoo.blogspot.com/2006/03/letter-to-alex-and-chris-twelve-years.html
an interesting blog, with an interesting theme...the idea behind it is that the writer is writing all this for her kids, presently aged 3 and 5 (or thereabouts) some 12 years down the line
Rock Street Journal
if u didnt know that there exists a very good and competitive indian rock-and-metal scene, check out this site
also try www.freedomjam.net if you want to attend monthly concerts in bangalore
Hoarse Whisperer
brilliant nonsecical poem...though the blog itself is very personal...i'd suggest not bothering about it...
KYOU Radio
it is what is called an open-source radio...u can listen to the radio, as well as listen to yourself on the radio...for more details, try out the link.
thats all for today,
bheja fry
R.I.P.
From today's Hindu Magazine:
Ramchandra Guha charts the course of India's national game, hockey, in his own inimitable style
Sevanti Ninan's weekly column, Media Matters, takes a look at the illegal radio station in Bihar
http://seulementme.blogspot.com/2006/03/humour-ripped-and-burned.html
check out the quotes, especially the woody allen ones
http://buggydoo.blogspot.com/2006/03/letter-to-alex-and-chris-twelve-years.html
an interesting blog, with an interesting theme...the idea behind it is that the writer is writing all this for her kids, presently aged 3 and 5 (or thereabouts) some 12 years down the line
Rock Street Journal
if u didnt know that there exists a very good and competitive indian rock-and-metal scene, check out this site
also try www.freedomjam.net if you want to attend monthly concerts in bangalore
Hoarse Whisperer
brilliant nonsecical poem...though the blog itself is very personal...i'd suggest not bothering about it...
KYOU Radio
it is what is called an open-source radio...u can listen to the radio, as well as listen to yourself on the radio...for more details, try out the link.
thats all for today,
bheja fry
R.I.P.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
I'm on the other side
Well, I have taken a while to come back on the blogging circuit, excuse me for that…my holiday in the Konkan went off just great, thank you very much. I had a great plan to come back home and start a travel blog ( I even had a name planned: Quo Vadis. Its Latin for “whither goest thou”) but I just don’t have the time to do all that…I gotta scan pics before I can actually do a good job on that…what’s a travel blog without good pictures?
By the way, the title is a referance to Korn's new album, See you on the other side. Anybody care to gift it to me? Nah, just kidding...
Anyways, the portals of hell are back in full swing…luckily, they’re about to get a fresh batch of people out of whose lives they can take the fun out of, so they’ve pretty much forgotten about us for the time being. Which is good, in many ways…
Like I was saying, the portals of hell are getting a whole new lot…this year, center about which my life revolves, is taking in ninety-odd new buggers, each one of whom looks nerdier that the previous one…hopefully, my words will be proved wrong in times to come…if these little bastards don’t put up a good, if not better, I-cube (see glossary) than ours, I swear to God, they will be in for some serious ass-kicking.
Among other things, my life is pretty boring…especially after a lovely holiday in the Western Ghats, things tend to take a very drab exterior. If you ever do go to the Konkan, make sure you try out this drink called kokam (I think blueberry, but don’t bet your life on it) sherbet…made from fresh kokams, this is the best drink to keep the heat away…take my advise, and don’t listen to the Times of India…they’ve probably been paid by the Tropicana guys to advertise their drinks…
Well, till next time, then,
Yours truly,
bhejafry
Was just watching an hour-long interview of Rahul Dravid on CNN-IBN. As far as I have seen him, this was the first time the chap has been so eloquent in front of a camera. Dravid spoke on myriad number of issues, like his debut (he’s been an international cricketer for 10 years), cricket today, cricket tomorrow, his family, the whole nine yards…the funny thing was, Dravid showed a whole different side of him today. He was trying to remove all the various misconceptions about him. He also knew that, say what he might, people are gonna stick to their misguided notions about him. For example, he spoke of his much-praised batting technique. To those not in the know, Dravid has, always, had praises heaped on him for his flawless technique. Dravid’s words on the topic were, “I don’t think I have a great technique”. Some people, who are paid to do what I am doing, have assumed that Dravid watches tapes of his batting after each match, analyzing each and every move that went wrong. The truth is far from it…the man hardly ever watches the tapes, let alone scrutinize them. And funnily, this nation, which dotes on cricket and cricketers, probably had similar ideas of him…funnily, coz we can be so wrong in judging people at times…
Though I don’t think we can punish ourselves for commiting that kind of error…I'm pretty sure that lots of people, myself included, have misjudged other people right next to them…guess misjudging someone we haven’t even met is really quite simple.
Some people I meet around…drive me effing crazy!
Like this bunch of people I met yesterday…it was a birthday treat from this girl I haven’t met, or spoken to, for exactly 4 years, and who suddenly chooses to call me for her birthday treat…and she’s part of a bunch of louts, guys and girls, sporting branded tees and camera phones…and you know what was the crazy part of it all? They acted like it was all from their own earnings…like they worked their butts off to get where they were…though actually they haven’t budged off their dirty backsides all this while…they were sitting in this café, being all cool and smart and stuff, but the only thing they managed to do was to be very very phony (read “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D.Salinger for more on phonies)…and in the middle of it all, I am asked the most sick question in the history of shallow minds, “So, tell me about XYZ, I hear she’s your girlfriend”…correct me if I'm wrong here, but that question can be easily reframed to something like, “so, you have a girlfriend for kissing, or for sex?” or something equally brazen…what I share with my girl is a deep, meaningful relationship…something which a lot of people haven’t heard about? Or maybe just the people I met, on that fateful day of March, fall into that category…
What I'm hoping for, here, is a way to get around these kind of people. These lunatics, these effing pain-in-the-backsides, who jump out of every nook and cranny, just when I'm least expecting it, and send me on a goddam trip to the place where the only people around are the people I like.
But then, these guys are SO GOOD at providing me with some comic relief…Mr. Fry, you sure you wanna take that away from them? Tell me, Mr. Fry, who will have you in splits of laughter and have you spiting in anger at the same time, if not for these guys?
Tell me, Mr. Fry, I’d really like to know.
By the way, the title is a referance to Korn's new album, See you on the other side. Anybody care to gift it to me? Nah, just kidding...
Anyways, the portals of hell are back in full swing…luckily, they’re about to get a fresh batch of people out of whose lives they can take the fun out of, so they’ve pretty much forgotten about us for the time being. Which is good, in many ways…
Like I was saying, the portals of hell are getting a whole new lot…this year, center about which my life revolves, is taking in ninety-odd new buggers, each one of whom looks nerdier that the previous one…hopefully, my words will be proved wrong in times to come…if these little bastards don’t put up a good, if not better, I-cube (see glossary) than ours, I swear to God, they will be in for some serious ass-kicking.
Among other things, my life is pretty boring…especially after a lovely holiday in the Western Ghats, things tend to take a very drab exterior. If you ever do go to the Konkan, make sure you try out this drink called kokam (I think blueberry, but don’t bet your life on it) sherbet…made from fresh kokams, this is the best drink to keep the heat away…take my advise, and don’t listen to the Times of India…they’ve probably been paid by the Tropicana guys to advertise their drinks…
Well, till next time, then,
Yours truly,
bhejafry
Was just watching an hour-long interview of Rahul Dravid on CNN-IBN. As far as I have seen him, this was the first time the chap has been so eloquent in front of a camera. Dravid spoke on myriad number of issues, like his debut (he’s been an international cricketer for 10 years), cricket today, cricket tomorrow, his family, the whole nine yards…the funny thing was, Dravid showed a whole different side of him today. He was trying to remove all the various misconceptions about him. He also knew that, say what he might, people are gonna stick to their misguided notions about him. For example, he spoke of his much-praised batting technique. To those not in the know, Dravid has, always, had praises heaped on him for his flawless technique. Dravid’s words on the topic were, “I don’t think I have a great technique”. Some people, who are paid to do what I am doing, have assumed that Dravid watches tapes of his batting after each match, analyzing each and every move that went wrong. The truth is far from it…the man hardly ever watches the tapes, let alone scrutinize them. And funnily, this nation, which dotes on cricket and cricketers, probably had similar ideas of him…funnily, coz we can be so wrong in judging people at times…
Though I don’t think we can punish ourselves for commiting that kind of error…I'm pretty sure that lots of people, myself included, have misjudged other people right next to them…guess misjudging someone we haven’t even met is really quite simple.
Some people I meet around…drive me effing crazy!
Like this bunch of people I met yesterday…it was a birthday treat from this girl I haven’t met, or spoken to, for exactly 4 years, and who suddenly chooses to call me for her birthday treat…and she’s part of a bunch of louts, guys and girls, sporting branded tees and camera phones…and you know what was the crazy part of it all? They acted like it was all from their own earnings…like they worked their butts off to get where they were…though actually they haven’t budged off their dirty backsides all this while…they were sitting in this café, being all cool and smart and stuff, but the only thing they managed to do was to be very very phony (read “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D.Salinger for more on phonies)…and in the middle of it all, I am asked the most sick question in the history of shallow minds, “So, tell me about XYZ, I hear she’s your girlfriend”…correct me if I'm wrong here, but that question can be easily reframed to something like, “so, you have a girlfriend for kissing, or for sex?” or something equally brazen…what I share with my girl is a deep, meaningful relationship…something which a lot of people haven’t heard about? Or maybe just the people I met, on that fateful day of March, fall into that category…
What I'm hoping for, here, is a way to get around these kind of people. These lunatics, these effing pain-in-the-backsides, who jump out of every nook and cranny, just when I'm least expecting it, and send me on a goddam trip to the place where the only people around are the people I like.
But then, these guys are SO GOOD at providing me with some comic relief…Mr. Fry, you sure you wanna take that away from them? Tell me, Mr. Fry, who will have you in splits of laughter and have you spiting in anger at the same time, if not for these guys?
Tell me, Mr. Fry, I’d really like to know.
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