Thursday 15 December, 2005

'This Is A Betrayal Of The People'— Uma


The BJP legislators' meeting in Bhopal was stormy. Here's a fly-on-the-wall account of it.
The Hindi weekly Outlook Saptahik literally had its ear to the ground inside the venue where a stormy meeting of BJP legislators in Bhopal took place. Arun Jaitley and Pramod Mahajan flew in from Delhi to ensure that Shivraj Singh Chauhan is "elected" the new CM by the legislators. Excerpts:

(There is chaos in the first 34 minutes. Finally, proceedings begin.)

Arun Jaitley: "We are gathered here today under special circumstances. For some weeks now, there has been a fierce debate over the leadership of the legislative party. Many of you friends have expressed different opinions on this. On November 26, the parliamentary board met, had a discussion and took a decision. The meeting of the legislators has been called to ratify the decision."

Uma Bharati: "According to the party constitution, the legislators have the right to elect their leader. The parliamentary board has the right to call a meeting of the legislature party, but not to elect the leader. Here 106 of 172 legislators have demanded that a new leader be elected with their support (applause). I request you to call each legislator individually and take a secret ballot. Or should we believe that the BJP does not follow its own constitution?"

Jaitley: "I ask Pramod Mahajan to reply to Umaji's point about the party constitution." (Gauri Shankar Shejwar repeats Uma's question. ).

Pramod Mahajan: "The BJP's central leadership is supreme. As legislators, you should know that the central constitution is superior to conventions guiding a legislative party." (He says he has a copy of the BJP constitution which clarifies the point he's making.)

Uma: "Take a decision after asking the legislators. We will all accept the majority decision of legislators. I will accept Shivraj and welcome him if the MLAs back him."

Mahajan: "Umaji, let us take the decisions. The decision of the parliamentary board is final."

Babulal Gaur: "My name had come from Delhi" (laughter).

Shejwar: "I propose Umaji's name as leader."

Jaitley: "I propose Shivraj's name." (An argument follows. Jaitley asks those in favour of Shivraj to raise their hands. Uma again asks for a secret ballot.)

Uma: "This is a betrayal of the people, the legislators. I will go to Ayodhya."

Jaitley: "This is not a forum for speeches."

Uma: "I am leaving."

Mahajan: "Those who are getting up to leave, please sit down."

Jaitley: "No one will leave." (Most of them listen to him and return to their seats.)

‘Kituu…’, in-sync with the trend

Rachna Kanwar

Sahara One Television has come up with yet another daily soap called ‘Kituu...Sabb Jaantii Hai’, at the primetime slot of 9.30 pm. The story is in line with the current trend of soaps with ordinary looking girls with middle-class values achieving extraordinary success in life. ‘Kituu...’ is about a girl Katyayani Purohit aka Kituu who comes from a humble background and becomes a successful Television journalist.

The title role of ‘Kituu...’ has been essayed by Ami Trivedi, a young, vivacious Gujarati girl. Kituu has been conceived as a powerful character of an honest girl whose convictions and integrity are a rarity in today’s world. She is a fiery crusader who dreams of changing the world. She is the life of her neighbourhood, her father’s pet, someone who is a complete tomboy, talkative and totally lovable.

This full-of-beans girl at the tender age of 20 takes up the challenge to bail her family out of a financial crisis. With her steely grit and determination this ’mohalla’ girl becomes a force to reckon with in electronic journalism. She becomes the face of the new generation of young women achievers. Her middle-class values and sensitivities endear her to the masses. She also becomes a role model for the young girls as despite her middle-class morals and views she refuses to be a doormat.

Ami who plays Kituu is a young graduate from Jai Hind College, Mumbai. She has dabbled in theatre for 6 years where she got the opportunity to act with the likes of Tiku Talsania, Homi Wadia, Dharmesh Vyas and Siddharth Randheria.

BSNL to offer FTTH broadband service

PTI[ MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2005 12:45:04 PM]

NEW DELHI: State-run BSNL has stepped up efforts to grab a bigger share of rising broadband demand in the country with the PSU planning to provide Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) based broadband services for offering Next generation services to its subscribers.

BSNL started broadband services in January 2005 with the 'ADSL' systems. We are now planning to offer broadband service on fibre also by using the FTTH systems, a senior BSNL official said adding the PSU today issued a tender to procure FTTH equipment for providing the next generation broadband services to its customers.

There are more than 4.5 lakh route kms of optical fibre laid by BSNL/MTNL and more than 1 lakh route kms laid by private operators.

The fibre optics technology can provide unlimited bandwidth potential and is steadily replacing copper network specially in intra-city backbone networks. This is being deployed in commercial buildings and complexes in big cities with high-density potential broadband users.

TRAI has identified five different access paths to cover the last mile -- Local Loop Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Cable, Satellite, Terrestrial Wireless and Fibre to Home.

Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC), Fibre-to-the-Curb and FTTH make use of fibre cabling into last mile. The fibre based models are future proof as they can provide huge bandwidth in the last mile and also a IP and converged network that can deliver high quality voice-video and data, he said.

DoT had set a target of 3 million broadband subscribers by December 2005. The total number of broadband internet subscribers in the country as on October 31, 2005 was 7.1 lakhs. BSNL and MTNL have contributed 3.1 lakh subscribers.

Wednesday 14 December, 2005

स्वानुकूल जग

आँखें बंद करके देखो, तो अनदेखा भी दिखाई देगा.
अंतरात्मा की सुनो, तो अनकहा भी सुनाई देगा.
मैं सदाएं दे देकर थक गया, किसी ने सुना ही नहीं.
तो महसूस हुआ कि...
बिन रसना भी कहा जा सकता है बहुत कुछ
अधरों को ज़रा दबा के तो देखो, जग स्वानुकूल दिखाई देगा.

'अशोका'

Disclaimer: This poem is not mine, written by someone close to me.
If you are not able to read hindi fonts then please mail me for english version.

Thursday 27 October, 2005

Hanuman

India's first Animation Movie
I was egerly waiting for "Hanuman".
there were two reasons behind this, very first the subject being very much indian, and that too somewhere in the blurr zone of Indian Mythology or may be Vedic History. That is subject of debate. But in this movie the subject is treated not as history but pure fiction as in mythology.
The Filmmakers claim that, they kept everyone in mind not only children as audience, but as I feel this movie is best and rightly targeted at child audience. If any adult has to watch this he have to become a child for the duration of the movie. But that is not a bad idea, even I enjoyed this movie a lot. And felt proud as well. Not only movie but I also enjoyed the audience themselves.
One little audience was crying when रावण "Ravan" was killed. he constantly keep saying till the end of the movie "Ravan ko vaapis lao, Ravan kidhar gaya". (bring back Ravan, wehre has he gone?)
Some young audinece were reciting the songs which I think they had already memorised thanks to Cartoon Network or some other TV channel. Me too enjoyed the songs very much. Hanuman Chaalisa's chaupais were also used.
"जय हनुमान ज्ञान गुण सागर, जय कपीश तिहु लोक उज़ागर"


A video is also shot with many a child artistes in it and a bunch of famous and energetic singers like Kailash Kher (Allah ke Bande fame), Palasha Sen and others like Sonu Nigam etc. The video was shown in the last with credits.
I thank all the crew of this film for doing this wonderful job and made me proud of themselves.
And amazingly, there were few love birds also seen in the theater, I could not guess why they came for this movie, but they were there with the reasons best known to them.

Sunday 15 May, 2005

Bose - the forgotten hero

The Forgotten Hero is based on the last five years of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's life and is directed by Shyam Benegal, rated one of India's best directors In an interesting departure from the norm as far as Bollywood music is concerned, Benegal had music director A R Rahman insert theme songs into the film. In Hollywood, most well known films have over the years become almost instantly recognisable by their themes. Hopefully, Bose will set a trend for themes in our films rather than the song and dance routine that is so much part and parcel of our movies. Aazadi, a blend of western classical with a few Hindi words, including Jai Hind that is sung in the background, is yet surprisingly Indian in tune that is the trademark of A R Rahman. Kadam kadam badaye jaa is often considered the anthem of the Indian National Army as it marched towards India. The song is a mix of martial tune and classical composition. It is the kind of song that gives the listener goose flesh. After all, this is the tune that launched a thousands soldiers, armed with little more than the determination to free their motherland. Ekla chalo, a famous Rabindranath Tagore song that was loved by both Bose and Gandhi, has had a makeover as a duet sung by Sonu Nigam and Nachiketa Chakraborty. Not sure if the purists will quite like it. Hum Dilli Dilli jayenge is another INA song, made famous over the years as the army's resolve to capture Delhi. The song is the kind that gets one going, set to a fast pace with a martial tune. Desh ki matti, a song of nostalgia, is sung evocatively and slowly, the words drifting down as lazily as the Ganga over the plains of India. Zikr, a Muslim prayer set to tune, is again a good hear, a song that lifts the spirit. Ghoomparani is a popular rhyme sung by Bengalis, usually while putting their children to sleep, and is another lilting song that soothes the spirit. And then there is the Durga Puja rhythm that one hears blaring from pandals whenever the festival season comes upon us, played out by Rahman as only he can. After the songs come the themes and the musical versions of some of the songs. Brilliant music played out by orchestras that provoke the imagination, especially when one links the theme with the title. So while hearing the Netaji themes, one can just shut one's eyes and try and imagine a solitary Bose as he essayed one of the greatest stories to free his country, astory that is perhaps more poignant because it came so near and was yet so far.That Benegal and Rahman were unwilling to make any compromises with the music is proved by the fact that the Czech Film Orchestra, based in Prague, rendered the themes. Hopefully in the future, such themes and orchestra music will be provided from within India. Emilie theme is particularly lilting. Similar is the case with the other themes that are either sombre (Hitler theme, U Boat theme) or a little fast-paced (Afghanistan theme).The orchestral renditions of Kadam kadam badaye ja and Desh ki mitti also make for some great music and hearing them in a dark cinema hall can only have a deeper impact.

Saturday 14 May, 2005

Bunti aur Bubli

"Bunty aur Babli" is the latest movie from "Yashraj Films". Being a fan of Yashraj I am looking forward to it. The last movie from the Director "Shaad Ali" was "Saathiya", which I admired a lot. The music from "A.R.Rahman" (in Saathiya) was one of my all time favourite including the great lyrics by "Gulzar".
Hope Shaad Ali recreates Magic in bunti and Bubli as well, genere wise the two movies are altogether different, but still the production house and same director made me to mention the earlier movie. Next similarity may be the probable success of "Bunti and Bubli".
Starring the most successful actor of Indian Film Industry "Amitabh Bachchhan" and his son "Abhishek Bachhan", who has recently proved his acting skills in "Yuva" and "Dhoom". And the "Rani Mukharjee", inclusion of her name in the credentials ensures the success of any movie. Most recently, "Black" and "Veer Zaara", later was again from "YashRaj Films" directed by son "Aditya Chopra".

Below I am giving synonips of story of the forthcoming movie, hope you and me will enjoy the movie when it comes into theaters.

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Bunty and Babli are two avid dreamers. Two free souls born into caged small town realities. They grow weary of being two specks on the horizon. They desire the horizon itself.And so they pack their aspirations in worn out bags, whip a scarf of confidence around their proud necks and set forth. On a journey across the length and breadth of the country, spinning circles around the people they meet. Born 'Rakesh' (Abhishek Bachchan) in a lethargic, lead-eyed Fursatganj, he is a man of schemes, ideas, invention and restlessness. His small Uttar Pradesh town begins to feel a bit too small for his king size plans. He wants to be amongst the richest in the world. He wants to be in jacuzzis. He wants to be in limousines. He wants to be a big blip on the radar of history. He wants to be big black typo in newspaper headlines. In short, he wants out of here.In a parallel universe, in another slump-backed, crinkle nosed small town called Pankinagar, 'Vimmi' (Rani Mukherjee), our heroine, faces the same dilemma. Does she follow the course every other young marriageable girl does? Or does she carve new fatelines on her soft as butter palms? In her mind (but in her mind alone!) she’s the foxiest thing to ever have hit a ramp. She’s the hottie the world can just gape at but never touch. She is Miss India.So she too decides to fly the coop.Somewhere along their individual journeys, Rakesh and Vimmi meet, flogged by circumstance but unwilling to concede. In a moment of mistaken truth, 'Bunty' and 'Babli' are born. And the world gets turned on its head! We follow the duo through caper after caper, in which they meet rajahs, powerbrokers, shaadi bandwallahs, millionaires, investors, leaders, ministers, banjaras, elephants, explorers, hoteliers, chai boys and one very, very upset policeman! The world sits up and takes wide-eyed notice of this pair. Bunty is the Rakesh that Rakesh always dreamt of being, with a delicious twist. Babli is the Vimmi that Vimmi never thought she’d become, with another delicious twist. Together they are more than the sum of their parts. Together they are spiritual gurus, bureaucrat and secretary, gangster and moll, business partners, hen pecked husband and pregnant wife, lawyer and sexually harassed client, vagabonds, caught-in-a-downpour lovers and lots, lots more. And they seem to be loving every minute of it. Their escapades play out against backdrops as varied as the Taj Mahal, the banks of the Ganges, the saffrons of Benaras, the browns of Kanpur and Lucknow, the whites of Mussoorie, the tinkling bells of Rishikesh and Hardwar, the skies of Delhi and all across the vein like network of the Great Indian railways and highways. Every mundane reality in every dusty corner of India is flushed out of its slumber by a splash of 'Bunty aur Babli' excitement in this, the tale of two dreamers that blaze the sky like comets. But do not die. Like all good comets they promise to reappear again. And they do. And how they do all of that is, seriously, the stuff legends are made of. Dashrath Singh (Amitabh Bachchan) is the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch. Currently he has exactly four passions bidis, channa, Bunty and Babli. But getting hands on Bunty and Babli proves to be the biggest challenge of his 30-year old career.

Sunday 10 April, 2005

Pahli Baar !

Pahali baar mein blog likh raha hu.. aur vo bhi isliye ki KAA ka bolg dekha aur vo achchha laga.
Thanks KAA for inspiring me...
Actually, lastly when I met KAA I thought I should meet him moreoften, because he is so inspiring n encouraging.
And start believing better in myself.

Saturday 9 April, 2005

Thanks Himanshu

Thank you Himanshu!
Friendship is very precious relation for me, May God keep our friendship alive forever.