The last sunset of my summer holidays

I have had many worse days in my life. But the worst days of all hase invaribly been the last day of all the summer holidays. The day when all happiness ended. The day when waking up late ended. The last day when I had no homework to do.

I usually played very hard on the last day of May. I played till the sun set and long after it, until my the last of my friends were yanked towards their homes. Not that I was not dragged home, its just that I do not remember it. Maybe I am disinclined to remember memories that do not add any bliss.

The new academic year began on June 1st. The last day of may was the one I prayed to be the longest. I prayed hard, like a fervent devotee... Let the day not die, let the sun not go, let the light be there :) I would avoid looking at the sun after 5 in in the evening. I did not like the failing rays, the glare turning from a bright, golden yellow to a ruddy crimson. I only concentrated hard on the game I was at.

But the sun always set. All my friends were pulled home. I screamed to myself loud an clear, "Come on guys, lets stick together. If we all are at the playground, kicking the ball around, the sun won't set. Trust me, it will be day and there wont be a night!" :) Maybe, I thought that the sun set because we all went home, and not that we went home because the sun set. :)

ROCKed on

Some stories are meant to be recited. And some, are meant to be brought up on celluloid. Man needs his dosage of visual tonic, periodically. Be it, in the form of words or a theater... After a long spell of gaudy cinema, a movie comes along, which erases the I-have-lost-hope-in-hindi-movies feeling.... An elixir to bad cinema. Yes, ROCK ON could be one such. It is a good movie, but it left me waiting for something...

I wonder, how the story could have been told if it was written as a novel. Undoubtedly, it would be more intense.

Every story whether on screen or in words, every performance, be it any form, will be characterised by that one high point; the zenith of intensity and passion, the climax that encompasses in itself the kernel of the entire story, the apogee which carries the weight of the enactment... ROCK ON lacked only that. The entire movie was on a high... From the start till the end, it was driven by adrenalin, pumping into the veins of the movie and setting its tempo on a high.

ROCK ON was on a perpetual high, never letting its audience soak in the characters. They came (with a bang), they sang (on a high) and they left (just like that). The characters of the movie were not projected enough to immortalise them. I can barely remember their names now. I do remember the names of Siddharth, Akash and Sameer. Maybe the intention of Farhan Akhtar was to only tell a story of MAGIK and not to eternalize himself as Aditya. Maybe he did not want to do to ROCK ON what he did to Dil chahata hain.

ROCK ON lacked the camaraderie that was the selling point of Dil Chahata hain. All love was lost between the protagonists. I wanted Aditya to break down when his wife berates him for living his life grudgingly. I wanted him to seek solace in his friends and use music as a nostrum. But, I was left waiting. However, I still remember the scene when Akash leaving the garb of his ego goes back to Siddharth and Shalini... Aditya never did that. ROCK ON only lacked this.

PHOONK was PHOONKed away

Why did RGV name it as PHOONK, is it because we could PHOONK it away? We actually did... It could have been aptly named, let me say

1) Naasthik bana aasthik -- you know Rajeev turned over a new leaf
2) Baccha khatiya se chalang mara -- oh, remember the crassiest scene of the movie. Did RGV think we would be scared?
3) Budiya ka sar vibration mode par -- Watch out for Rajeev's mother.Her head is always in tremors, like a 1100 in vibration mode
4) Bhagwan ya Doctor -- Poor Lillete Dubey took away the achievement of the almighty
5) Ped pe Kavva -- That ubiquituous crow.
6) Ram Gopal Verma ka PHOONK -- just like Ram gopal verma ki AAG

Ram Gopal Verma, the man who immortalised Urmila as Mili in Rangeela, who did to GOD FATHER, what A R Rehaman did to 'Vande Mataram'... this was the most weakened form of cinema that RGV can dish from his kitchen. Has he become mentally decrepit to spend on such a gross movie and to believe that the audience will lap it up?

Match fixing at my place...

Matches are fixed at my house. I has never realised the intensity of the activities that are carried out, but when I sat through one such session, it was rather unsettling. The key person was my Tayaaji, a very senior personality and a luminary in my family circle. As you must have guessed, I am not talking about cricket, there are many other not so important people doing this job. Here I a very respectfully referring to the gal-guy match, yea, marriages.

My Pa is known across the length and breadth of the rectangle comprising all near and very far relatives. Let me take a very typical situation here. Tring, tring.. tring tring... I answer the telephone, My voice trails across the house, "Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, your phone" Pa walks down the stairs of his room towards the hall. "Hello, araam ri, Neevu? Henga call madidri? Haudenri? Henta hudaki beeka? hmmmmmm, hmmmmm, aayita bidri. Nale phone madtini"... To summarise, some called up asking for a bride for his son. Pa gets into a very contemplative mood. The decision has to be made. A select request runs down his database, query returns a number of gals. Phew... memory overload. Too many gals. He redefines the query adding a (where) clause. Bingo, A few very good hits. Then the dialogue begins in our house. Pa tells mom the entire scenario. Mom may or may not add more where clauses. Again the query runs. You see, my mom's suggestions can never be overlooked. You will definitely repent if you do not heed to them. Ask my dad! He has paid a huge price for not listening to her. My mom advised him against marrying her. He did not heed to her. He is still repenting.. :) JOKES APART... Let me continue.

Its day 2: Pa calls back to the bride hunter. All details conveyed. Rest is HIStory. I have been a very amused witness to such plotting scenes. The only feeling that passes me at the times when such events are occuring is, what are the gal and boy doing at their respective residences or offices at that moment of time. Their fate is being sealed at the living room of my house...

A poignant scene on a monday morning!

There are a few people who keep me busy in the morning. 1) A lady who sweeps the entire stretch of road in front of my house. 2) An hoary, wrinkled old man who begs for alms. He calls out, "Baba, rote de baba!!!"

The rough sound of the lady's broom grating the ground and the hoarse voice of the old man are a definite accompaniment to the rest of the sounds that make up my morning. Both these people do not come everyday, but alternately. The old woman cleans up all the roads in our area for a pittance and all that the man manages to take home is maybe a few rupees and food for the day.

As usual, the old man cried for alms and food. After having picked up food from my neighbor and my house, he walked towards the next residence. After handing him the food, I stood by at the door, watching him.

The sweeper was resting her back on a bench that was placed at the intersection of the four roads. She was chewing betel nut and spitting over her shoulder. We never minded this act of hers, as she would eventually clean it up. She said something to the old man. I thought she wanted him to avoid walking over the heap of leaves that she had swept together. Instead, the old man walked over to her, limping, with his slightly bent back. The woman was fumbling with her small bag in which she carried betel nut leaves and chuna. Finally, after having found what she wanted, she lifted her head and gazed at the old man, stretching out her palm towards him. She gave him something. I was swelling with curiosity. After all, what could an old woman, not much different in social and financial position compared could give to anyone? Before he could drop it into his food bag, I caught a glimpse ot it. It was a 2 rupee coin.

At that moment, a few sentences reverberated, very close to me...

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. Where there is love there is life."

Mahatma Gandhi

No matter what happens, we humans will bail out each other!

I say...