Slumdog Millionaire

First of all, kudos to the entire team of Slumdog Millionaire who bagged some of the most prestigious awards at the Golden Globe Awards last week. Although I am yet to watch the film, I can surmise an outline of what it is all about from the reviews and analyses that have been splashing the media for the past few days. However, what I fail to gather is why Mr Amitabh Bachchan is so vociferous about the portrayal of glorification of slum dwellers in Mumbai, India through a rags to riches story!

Apparently, Mr Bachchan has problems with the image of India being tarnished at the international level with the country's poverty being displayed in the film. He is also upset about the fact that Satyajit Ray's films got noticed in the global standards while Bollywood's blockbusters never got recognition at the film festivals which matter most.

May I point out that it was Big B who portrayed characters like Vijay in Deewar and a handful of other films as well which categorically harped on the oppression of the poor in the hands of the rich – wasn't India's image being played with, if his argument is to be considered at all! Moreover, the portrayals of the roles of anti-heroes were no less discouraging for the young generation of the 70's, proving him to be no less caring about the society and its people. However, I am not such dumb to not admit that I enjoyed every bit of the work you did all your life.

But I like Satyajit Ray's work more. Firstly, he worked on reality and never fled from accepting that he was a part of a poor country. Just a sparkling portrayal of the unreal with an 'all's bright and beautiful' tag dangling from all sides does not hide the reality. Poverty is still rampant here and Mumbai is home to one of the greatest slums. Entertainment and poetic justice are not the same. Had it been so, a Noddy or a Famous Five would have bagged a Booker instead of 'English Patient' or 'Midnight's Children' winning their dues.

Instead of talking big and shutting oneself to the pathetic financial plight of majority of your countrymen by basking in the glory of Bollywood fantasies, set your foot forward towards some positive moves that would compel global producers to portray India in a better light. Well done, Slumdog Millionaire!

Welcome 2009!

One more year gone and one to follow...resolutions to be made and broken...bads and goods to be faced anew...but one thing lives on and that is Hope. I am sorry to say that 2008 was a year of major lows, sprinkled here and there with some good times, however.

While Barack Obama's electoral win manifests a triumph over racism, the terror attack in Mumbai is a shame to mankind, politics and religion; while the Sensex dives down to abysmal depths, Abhinav Bindra wins his nation Olympic gold; while Nano rolls out of Singur, West Bengal, depriving the communist territory of a rise in the industrial arena, top cops of Mumbai lay slain for their beloved country and its people.

These incidents have had rippling effects as well. For example, the Sensex meltdown, possibly the worst of all blows, has mercilessly triggered job slashes, salary cuts, an overall downfall of the national as well as international economy and a series of psychological slumps as well. The Mumbai attacks have sacrificed the lives of hundreds of innocents and a number of dedicated professionals (cops and commandos) who laid their lives in defense of their countrymen. Not to mention the floods and famine across the world!

However, despite the loads of bads that people have witnessed in the bygone year, we are ready to hope for a better tomorrow. Natural calamities cannot be averted perhaps but, friends, let us pledge to try and wipe out the evils within us. Let us rise and shine. Welcome 2009.

Mumbai Terror – Effects on Non-Mumbaites

A week and a half have passed and the terror still grips on to one and all around the country and beyond. My cousin and his wife in London are as much amid a cauldron of worry and anxiety for their parents in Mumbai as we are, sitting here in Kolkata in the very nation of terror attacks. Analysts can easily pass it off saying it is hardly a scare for people in this otherwise lackadaisical city of joy, but trust me, it is worse.

I was at a house warming function last week and one of the little invitees was almost rampaging around the apartment posing like the terrorist he had been viewing on television for the past few days. God save these tots, but what on earth are they imbibing – terror is the best form of entertainment!!!

The maid and her daughter, the other day, landed up with an ax peeping out of their bag which they regularly carry. When asked about it, she prompted, 'don't you see in the papers and the TV there is a constant fear of life everywhere and we travel by train daily. Isn't that reason enough? You too should keep some weapon, didi, they say attacks can happen anywhere in India.'

What are we living with? Fear, hatred, disbelief? Can anything under the sun change this crisis situation that gives eerie goose bumps to one and all around?