Ingrate's Syndrome

"Gandhi is overrated."
"Gandhi's contributions are grossly exaggerated."
"Gandhiji didn't win us freedom. It was a natural outcome."

Statements like these are overrated, grossly exaggerated and often blurted out by individuals who don't get the price of freedom but somehow seem to enjoy it way too naturally. For several reasons, actually. The most pertinent being the truth that somebody didn't read up a lot. But that didn't stop them from cultivating absurd opinion about a person who accomplished far more than humanly possible. We are talking about someone who created the idea of a nation-state in us. Before he happened, people were happy looking out for themselves. There was nothing Indian about us. Bombaywallahs cared for Bombay while Madrasis were happy worrying only about Madras and the Punjabis about Punjab... The script pretty much remains the same for other provinces and presidencies as well. (The Revolt of 1857 wasn't India's First War of Independence; it was merely a series of underplanned revolts. Period.) What Gandhi managed to do, over the decades, was inculcate the idea that we too can have a nation of our own. A nation where people could be together under one umbrella. It was a massive project and he was our first national leader and so far, our last national leader. No one since his death could call himself a national leader. Nope, not even Nehru, whose shortsightedness in lingual matters made him a figure of mistrust in the South. It's been almost seven decades and we are yet to find Gandhi's replacement. Going by the standards of politicians our society offers, that pedestal is going to stay vacant for a long(er) while. Discrediting others is a common desi trait but the plot gets thicker when people who are benefiting from the seeds sown about a century ago do it. Seeds that were sown by a man who could peek into the future. A man who travelled far and wide to grasp what kind of people we really are. A man who didn't care for taking the credit for a job well done. No wonder you don't see him releasing pigeons into the sky in the pictures celebrating our independence. He had bigger things to do: mitigate the effects of riots at the border. 

The next time people around you spew historic crap, try to remind them that they are being ungrateful. It's like saying Dhoni didn't win us the World Cup (or Messi can't win Argentina the World Cup in the future) because we clearly know how important a captain is to the team. Similarly, freedom is not a candy to be bought from a store. It's a long, strenuous process which takes enormous fortitude and patience. The journey only gets wilder without a leader because keeping people together is a headache-y task. (If you're a manager who is responsible for even 10 people, you'd understand the analogy here.) Fortunately, we had a great leader in Mr. Gandhi whether we take it upon ourselves to give credit where it's due or become a nation of ingrates that is too commitment-phobic to stick to the facts.

PS. It's hard to imagine the likes of Nehru, Ambedkar, Jinnah and Bhagat Singh sprouting without Gandhiji's influence as all these great figures (and many more) got directed towards independence struggle because of an old man with a stick.

My Celluloid Man

In our village, more than half a century ago, there was this chap named Timmappanna. People, including my grandparents, thought he was crazy. This soft-spoken man was known for working all day on the field without a word of complaint in his shirt and a komana which is a basically a piece of cloth tinier than a loincloth. Well, things were simpler then and skin was respected so no worries there. Anyway, Timmu had an obsession with cinema. He was the only one of his kind in the entire taluka. Nobody, and i mean nobody, came close to his passion for the celluloid. In fact, my grandpa never watched a movie in his entire life. People like my mom never watched one until she was 24. Coming back to our very own Celluloid Man, after toiling the entire day under the sun, he used to have his dinner in advance and set out to walk 18 kilometers to this crappy cinema hall and watch whatever they had on display. The language didn't matter, be it Kannada, Tamil, Hindi or English. It is apparent that he loved the idea of moving pictures. After all, that dark room was the only place he ever knew where life forms metamorphosed into another life forms with a little bit of sound effects and visual treats. Where else could he find such magic? Life is darn boring in a village in any case. And we are talking about the early socialist '50s and '60s here. OK. After watching the reels, the midnights awaited him. Usually what he did was doze off on the grassy earth nearby and then wake up around 4 in the morning and set out home. Literally famished, his thin figure covered with an off-white shirt and a veshti trudging alone on the street would have been a sight. He quite certainly didn't understand film-making but what mattered to him was the few minutes of escape that movies guaranteed. They took him to places he never visited and introduced him to people he'll never meet. He stayed unmarried (funny how none of my heroes do!) and remained a curio in our village. Today when i pretend to be a film journalist, i ask myself whether i'd walk 18 kilometers once with my stomach full and then again with my eyes empty.

Our city, my life!

The media keeps talking about Mumbai's spirit. Especially during tragedies. A bomb blast here or a falling bridge there. But nobody really knows what Mumbai's spirit is all about. It's like the word 'rehabilitation' in that epic movie called The Shawshank Redemption. Nobody really knows what they are talking about. Unless someone with a voice like Morgan Freeman's tells you what it really means. 

Here's a lowdown (in Naseeruddin Shah's voice, if you may) on what Mumbai's spirit actually stands for and how Mumbaikars inadvertently exude it in their daily life. These are just some of the many instances...

• When an overpacked train arrives at Kurla station, some poor souls alight demoting it from its overpacked to packed status. And amid this spatial trauma, somebody standing next to you on the platform says, "Yaar, andar jagah hai!" 
• When your mother doesn't speak Marathi and your neighbour doesn't speak Hindi. But that doesn't stop them from gossiping. 
• When it's hot like hell outside and still there's no place to stretch your limbs out.
• When vada-pav replaces a meal.
• When commuters quarrel for the imaginary fourth seat.
• When the potholes speak for themselves and Delhi rolls on the road laughing.
• When Mumbaikars read about rapes in the Capital and angry silence follows. 
• When it's too late to let others down and too early to give up. 
• When people fight on the street and more people gather around them because everybody can afford to miss their schedule but nobody wants to miss on live action.
• When couples (both married as well as unmarried) realize that the world is basically turning into Taliban. 
• When Bollywood is considered as a compliment, not a derogatory term.
• When the migrant in you doesn't feel lost. At all. 
• When you unequivocally acknowledge Parsis' benevolence.
• When you have no clue who the Baghdadi Jews were or what their contribution to our city is.
• When somebody asks you "Where are you from?" and you say "Bombay" as the question wasn't "Where are you to?". 
• When you cross track because time is more precious than life.
• When a person falls from a bus and your humanity runs towards him/her.
• When the rent is too high and your gumption, too low. 
• When you have a problem with Big B being a farmer in UP but no problem whatsoever with him endorsing Gujarat tourism.
• When you haven't attended your school reunion nor your school friends' wedding.
• When you wave your hand at the bus even though it's going to stop at the bus stop. 
• When you wave your hand at the approaching train because habits are habits.   
• When you won't get a house for rent if you don't follow the same religion the housing society does or come from the same region the housing society does.  
• When you get down from the plane and you know this is where home is.  
• When Sanjay Dutt is the only reminder of the '93 bomb blasts.  
• When chasing local trains is the only form of exercise you get. And you don't wish to miss it.
• When you respect the three defense forces but don't give a shit about the police force or the traffic policemen although these underpaid 'corrupt' people ultimately serve us more.
• When the heavy rain makes a guy offer to share his umbrella with you. And you're not a pretty girl. 
• When your Tamil colleague is celebrating Mumbai Indians's win against Chennai Super Kings.
• When you've made peace with the pace of life in this devilfostered place. 
• When a Maharashtrian knows there were six Marathi films releasing on a Friday (like it happened on April 19) and still opt for that one Hindi film (Ek Thi Daayan in this case).
• When you wonder why people in SoBo are fairer than you are. Also, you thank god for making them cloth-intolerant. 
• When Navi Mumbai is that fancy place with a lot more space than it actually has. 
• When you know Gateway of India but you don't know that the last unit of British Army walked through it, making us truly independent.  
• When the college students believe more in being socially cool than in being politically active.
• When you don't bother to know who the corporator is but you're damn convinced that s/he is not worth voting for. 
• When the city is crumbling and you're essentially busy doing nothing.

Thousands of Walls to fall...

20 years ago, on this day, a Wall fell down. This Wall was not just a concrete slab that was dividing humanity on either side. It was a veil of sort that was too thick to be seen through. I’m talking about Berlin Wall. The Wall that was created in Germany striking out a full-fledged Cold War, once the world was done with WW2. This Wall stood for everything that was not good between the US and the USSR. It defined the fall of trust and the rise of deception. Politicians on each side were trying to cement it with mortar of propaganda and furthered estrangement of people who shared history long before Cold War took place. It was more like the Wall crossed their life, not the other way around.

The fall of this Wall, no matter how ideological it was in nature, cries out to millions of people out here in the world. It shoots a signal that we can overcome anything, anytime as long as we are ready to take the blow. There are thousands of wall that has to crumble down and give way to new direction of life, be it in Israel or Cuba or India or China. There are still reasons to not give into hope. Its like we are so afraid of hoping that we assume we are better off hopping from one make-believe to another.

I must say that we are alive in the best possible time of humankind era with Social Media in its full form. Internet has made it possible for us to sneeze here and receive a “Gesundheit!” from the antipodes! Its possible now to send words across the world within seconds that our ancestors would have taken lifetime to do. But this connectivity has brought with it a sense of superiority and misconstructions between countries and between cultures and of course, between religions. It is not dismal completely yet provides us with thousands of reasons to build in a chasm that widens and deepens.

We can start breaking these walls down silently with our words. Let’s talk.

Sixth time unlucky at US Open!

I know I'm not the only one on this face of planet with a broken heart tonight. There are millions out there who wanted Roger Federer to go an inch further and grab that title. Of course, I'm talking about US Open 2009 which was snatched by Juan Martin Del Potro (DelPo), a 20 year lad from Argentina, with overpowering game and feral instinct on court. If only the match was won by my athletic icon, I would have been writing this blog in a different tone, a more triumphant sort of one. But sadly, that isn't the case and I can just hopelessly reflect on what happened in that deciding 5th set.

Federer was comfortable in the first set with an easy win, was persistent in the second set which ultimately went into a tie-breaker and won by DelPo. The third set saw Federer get back to what he does best: WIN. The fourth set had all the drama of a perfect movie script. Both were neck to neck fighting, one for the title, other to stay in the match and force a fifth setter. Ultimately it was the hopeless that fought and won hope. Federer lost the 4th set and had to play in the decider set. The fourth set contained a match point for Federer which could have avoided the disappointment that was to follow but DelPo was strong and firm enough to stave away the scare. Federer not only lost the set but even lost his ubiquitous cool. He even used the F-word against the Chair Umpire. When was the last time Federer used an audible F-word on court?


With the fifth set getting on a go, it turned the heat up on both the players and it showed. DelPo with his lean, tall stature was showing sign of extreme fatigue whereas the ever-cool Federer was exhibiting signs of mental torture, not only from his failing game strategy but also due to the boisterous crowd ranting "Vamos DelPo" and "Ole" at full stretch. The crowd was more appropriate for soccer match and even the Chair Umpire realized it as very few was paying heeding to the famous "Thank you, Silence Please!!"

Within a span of 15 minutes, DelPo was leading 3-0 and it made me damn nervous, least to say. I could smell something really bad will follow and it did. Federer was not only hitting balls miles away from his usual bull's eye but even was falling prey to conniptions. That showed when he argued with the Chair Umpire about a call that turned out to be a false and was actually made by some erratic spectator. Federer wasn't Federer and it clearly resulted in giving up which Federer hardly ever does, at least not in a Grand Slam event. Within the next 30 minutes, the match was up, DelPo was down….on the court crying tears of joy and Federer, in his gentlemanly best, applauded the new Champion at award giving ceremony.

If only Federer had won this one and kept his 40 match winning streaks at US Open alive, I would have had a better day today. This may sound hyped but I couldn't sleep after watching this "horror". The last set kept repeating itself in my dreams and messed up my already twisted brain! For me, it's more like watching a guy who can extend the threshold of human endurance and create new boundaries for future humankind to achieve and upset. Pete Sampras made it possible for a Federer to dream of 14 and more Grand Slam titles. Similarly, I want Federer to make it possible for a DelPo or a Murray to dream of 20 or more GS titles someday in future. But as of now, Federer is still stuck at 15!!!

I remember Federer crying like a sweetheart after losing to Rafael Nadal in this year's Australian Open Final and I tried to convince myself that he'll come back strong. And thankfully he did come back like a Phoenix. And that's exactly what I'll do again. I can't give up on a great Champion like him. Nadal, without his knees is nothing and that's because his game is centered on his pace whereas Federer is a more complete and nuanced player. I can only fret about how close Federer was to the well but he died thirsty and all but it doesn't matter. He missed on the William Renshaw's record of 6 consecutive Wimbledon titles, thanks to Nadal and similarly, he missed Bill Tilden's 6th consecutive US titles record.

But it's OK. It's all right. He will rise again and grab what belongs to him and in a manner that won't have any angry tantrum with the Chair Umpire or any sign of complacency. He is a genius and even geniuses have bad days. Today was just one of them and he can get over it.

Federer & Roddick story at SW19

So it was done just like I thought except a bit of improvisation in the final moments. I was wishing that Murray will face the riposte from Feddie boy but coincidentally it was Andy Roddick who went through the drill.

Federer and Roddick have a history of their own and it goes back to their junior days as well but as far as the professional men's tennis is concerned, Federer clearly thumped out better and stronger among the two with 18 victory out of 20 matches with the "King of Tennis". So in a nutshell, it would have been an one-sided affair. But it wasn't meant to be an one-sided story. And it wasn't.

Roddick came to Center Court focused like never before as he knew exactly what it means to be facing Federer on the other side of the net and he remembers how he was reined like a mule by Roger in the US Open in 2006 in front of his cheering crowd. The game plan was to attack Federer with piercing serve and approaching net as many times as possible and this stratagem clearly paid off in the first set itself. He won the first set of the duel with a breakpoint at the very end. So the score now was at 1-0 in Rod's favor.

The second set too was all about holding service and attacking with everything possible and trying to keep the set elongated and durable. But the balance was again tilting in Roddick's favor with the second set reaching a tie break where Roddick again held his serve and posted a 6-2 lead, needing just one point to wrap up the second set. But here's where Federer proved why he is what he is considered and called. He changed the complete face of the tie break and stalled Roddick (who committed some uncharacteristic unforced errors too) at 6 and moved from 2 to 8 thus winning the second set 7-6 (8-6).

Third set again was all too similar to 2nd set and approached tie breaker where Federer showed his upper hand and won the set 7-6 (7-5). By this time, most of the punters must have assumed that Federer will chalk out the match within four set and kiss the golden trophy.

However, Fourth set saw the resurgence of A-Rod and broke Federer's service twice to grab the set 6-3. Mind you, till now Federer failed to gain even a break point in spite of having several feasible chances, which meant Roddick has managed to remain unbroken against Federer for four consecutive sets which became a Grand Slam record in itself for him against Roger in 8 meetings.

So the match is tied at 2-sets each and fifth set was the decider and no one would have guessed that this set would be the longest 5th-setter ever in Wimbledon history lasting 95 minutes and 30 games. Last year, it was an epic battle between Federer and Nadal. This year, it was an epic 5th-setter and it did amazed everyone from retired "legends" sitting in front row to Rog & Rod's family and team to boisterous crowd to millions glued to TV.

Now the game is overwhelming at 14-15 in Roger's favor and Rod is trying to avoid break point and stay alive in the match. Roger Federer who didn't break Roddick's serve even once till now does so when its needed the most and exalts a huge yelp of relief and creates history in the meantime with all the dignitaries including Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver delivering a standing ovation to the true "King of Sward". Roddick looked heartbroken but that didn't downed his sense of humor when he pointed to Sampras and said, "Sorry, Pete. I tried to hold him off."

Bhutan, our friendly neighbor

Let me tell u about Bhutan… this was told by my GEO-GOD bro who went something like, “We have the baddest and the most dangerous neighbors… and out of these sad next-doors, we have a gem in a country like Bhutan coz v already share a friendly relation wid Bhutan… in fact Bhutan was the 1st country to recognize Independent India… our relation has more to do with heart than wid bilateral give n take… Bhutan as we all know is a hermit country, ruled historically by Kings n inhabited by calm buddhist subjects…. this country ws recently called the happiest country in the world coz it does not care about its GDP but works on its GNH (Gross National Happiness)... just imagine something similar to that happening in my city, Mum-bye…(silent goodbye)!!…

This nation has only 1 functioning traffic signal in Thimpu (its capital) n ppl don’t care to follow it coz there is hardly any vehicles n if at all, they r not crazy about speeding… they hv only 5 elevators in whole of the country!!!!…. of course ppl will say its a small country wid minuscle population bt u can’t overlook the serene simplicity they exhibit…now the gud thing is their king Wangchuck decided to go 4 democracy voluntarily — no protest, no bloodshed, no opinion..simply handed the crown over to his son n now the country is in its 1st yr of functional democracy….. he did it coz he is educated in western stream n realized dat the times of monarchy is beyond the horizon….n 1 more thing, he’s a huge MOVIE addict n has the biggest movie collection in the whole of Bhutan, something 2 cheer for me!

The surprising thing abt this episode is that our students r not thought anything abt our neighbors in detail, thus fueling cliche of they-r-enemies mentality… and the sad thing is our history books (even in SSC) ends at a chapter called INDIA WINS INDEPENDENCE… thus pulling a brake to better understanding of the unfolding events after independence…. its no huge wonder dat our kids don’t know neither natl anthem nor natl song… forget abt its verbal meaning…. no country in the present time can show such unpatriotic fervor… nationalism is not thought in school, it just brings us up wid us… i’m goin on n on… dat is a syndrome called Shaktian Effect!!