Practically everyone knows the incompetence by which India has dealt with the Influenza Type A – H1N1, which, is more commonly known as swine flu. A travel abroad has just made that belief stronger and has highlighted the laidback attitude of the government and our so called health officials.
In the last ten days besides the Indian airport I have been to the Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong airport as well. Before disembarking at Kuala Lumpur or Hong Kong a detailed health form which included questions on ones travel itinerary for the past one month, health related queries and also if one has been in contact with anyone suffering from the disease. On entering the airport not only was the form but also we were visually examined before getting clearance to go past immigration. Beefing up the scrutiny even further were sensors placed at the gates which would beep when anyone with the slightest amount of fever even passed.
As though these measures weren’t enough Hong Kong even went a step further. Chinese aren’t particularly known for their sweetness in nature, and can give some of the meanest looks which kind of make you uncomfortable even though most of them are some 5 feet nothing. Having said that, the airport is filled with their health officers who don’t even wince before taking you on the side and stuff a thermometer down your mouth if they suspect you even the slightest bit. If by any chance one does have fever no amount of reports or explanations will stop them from quarantining you and on top of that the language issue. However, even with all these precautions no one is deeply inconvenienced and at least there is a sign of seriousness in tackling the issue.
Now coming to Chatrapati Shivaji airport, Mumbai. Even here before disembarking a form needs to be filled. However, if you first questions answer i.e. “Have you visited U.S.A., Mexico or Canada in the last ten months?”. If your answer happens to be no the rest of the form can be left empty. On disembarking the flight we have to walk in a single file to the health officers. Trust me the line is awfully slow, maybe they should learn something from the immigration officers. The slowness of the line gets even more irritating after you have passed the health check. The reason being, the masked health officers don’t even glance at your face to see if you have any symptoms and neither do they read the form you have filled. They just very conveniently flip over to the page they are to sign, sign and let you proceed.
Now with this apathetic attitude towards this epidemic how do we really plan on stopping the disease, especially since we know that most of the carriers are people who have come from abroad. The difference in tackling the issues in other countries compared to ours shows why at least they can control the situation and we can’t. Pondering over the issue won’t help its action that leads to a reaction.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
(Dis)Colouring Mumbai
We always blame the BMC and other various state departments for not doing enough for Mumbai. Especially, when it comes to beautification or the upkeep of landmarks. However, have we realised how hypocritical we are and looked upon the fact on how we do nothing to make their work easier, or how to make our city look cleaner.
Just a few days back the BMC took the initiative of adding a touch of colour to the Tulsi Pipe road. Many citizens and The Wall Project (a group of graffiti artists) came together to paint the walls of that long stretch of road from Mahim to Lower Parel, which, otherwise bore a very depressing and filthy look. No sooner was the work completed that the wall was very uncouthly and haphazardly covered with film posters. One fails to understand why a film producer who has spent so much money on making his film cant spend a little more and use hoardings for publicity instead. Also, how can he promote his art by actually ruining someone else’s. These are the same people belonging to our elite upper crust section of society whose views our sought after concerning any issue dealing with our city. I wonder after this damage caused what Mr. Amitabh Bachchan who blogs of everything in the world from Indians in Australia to how his house gets flooded during the monsoons say about this, as it is his film posters that have been very shamelessly pasted on the wall.
Our politicians aren’t too far behind. Come elections or any important event it they do not even wink an eyelid before placing a banner wherever they feel like. Just a few days back, at Chembur, at the circle of the Shivaji Statue, instead of being surrounded by a garden the statue seemed to be surrounded by banners instead. There wasn’t a single candidate from an independent one to one belonging to a party who did not have his banner put up. In fact most of the major roads in the city end up looking like a printing factory looking at the number of banners put up. It high time they realise these ugly banners which cover landmarks, signboards and signals do not quite appeal to the eye.
Its not only this one issue which has brought about this thought but in general we Mumbaites find it extremely difficult to maintain something new. We can take our local trains for example. The minute we got new trains it did not take very long till the interiors were spattered with spit stains, walls covered with notices and advertisements, and the floor adorned with different forms of garbage ranging from paper to food products. Honestly is it that difficult for us to keep things clean or is it that we love being called a city of slums. Hence, we just love to be surrounded with filth wherever we go.
Just by making a few residential areas look pretty and by putting up “Clean Mumbai” banners this city won’t stay clean. We as citizens need to be the change we won’t to see by maybe questioning our morality or taking heed of our actions irrespective of which class we belong to.
Just a few days back the BMC took the initiative of adding a touch of colour to the Tulsi Pipe road. Many citizens and The Wall Project (a group of graffiti artists) came together to paint the walls of that long stretch of road from Mahim to Lower Parel, which, otherwise bore a very depressing and filthy look. No sooner was the work completed that the wall was very uncouthly and haphazardly covered with film posters. One fails to understand why a film producer who has spent so much money on making his film cant spend a little more and use hoardings for publicity instead. Also, how can he promote his art by actually ruining someone else’s. These are the same people belonging to our elite upper crust section of society whose views our sought after concerning any issue dealing with our city. I wonder after this damage caused what Mr. Amitabh Bachchan who blogs of everything in the world from Indians in Australia to how his house gets flooded during the monsoons say about this, as it is his film posters that have been very shamelessly pasted on the wall.
Our politicians aren’t too far behind. Come elections or any important event it they do not even wink an eyelid before placing a banner wherever they feel like. Just a few days back, at Chembur, at the circle of the Shivaji Statue, instead of being surrounded by a garden the statue seemed to be surrounded by banners instead. There wasn’t a single candidate from an independent one to one belonging to a party who did not have his banner put up. In fact most of the major roads in the city end up looking like a printing factory looking at the number of banners put up. It high time they realise these ugly banners which cover landmarks, signboards and signals do not quite appeal to the eye.
Its not only this one issue which has brought about this thought but in general we Mumbaites find it extremely difficult to maintain something new. We can take our local trains for example. The minute we got new trains it did not take very long till the interiors were spattered with spit stains, walls covered with notices and advertisements, and the floor adorned with different forms of garbage ranging from paper to food products. Honestly is it that difficult for us to keep things clean or is it that we love being called a city of slums. Hence, we just love to be surrounded with filth wherever we go.
Just by making a few residential areas look pretty and by putting up “Clean Mumbai” banners this city won’t stay clean. We as citizens need to be the change we won’t to see by maybe questioning our morality or taking heed of our actions irrespective of which class we belong to.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Film Review - Wake up Sid
The director is many a times touted as the captain of the ship and where Wake up Sid is concerned debutante director Ayaan Mukherjee has definitely lived up to that statement.
The film revolves essentially around two characters - the primary being Siddhart Mehra aka Sid (Ranbir Kapoor) the lazy, carefree, spoilt rich brat whose only consensus in life happens to be partying, sleeping and hanging out with his two best buddies Rishi (Namit Das) and Laxmi (Shikha Talsania). For him life is a holiday wherein he takes his father Ram Mehra’s (Anupam Kher) wealth for granted and his hinglish speaking mother Sarita’s (Supriya Pathak) emotions are ignored. On the other hand is the career oriented, focussed and ambitious Aisha Bannerjee (Konkona Sen Sharma), an aspiring writer from Kolkata, who has come to make it big in the city of Mumbai and not Bombay to be precise. When their lives intertwine and how they make each others lives complete is what forms the basic crux of the film.
Wake up Sid follows those two very basic journeys of our youth. One of finishing graduation without any vision for the future like Sid and growing up to be a responsible person with the help of someone like Aisha. The second – like Aisha having a goal and realising that the journey of reaching there doesn’t have to be all work and can be mixed with a bit of fun thanks to Sid.
What works for the film are the brilliantly etched characters and the perfect cast. The simple story line and the way it is narrated connects with the audience immediately and for that Ayaan Mukherjee deserves all the credit. The first hour, right till the intermission, sweeps you off your feet. You get drawn into Sid's world instantaneously; you react to everything he does. But the post-interval portions slacken, courtesy the writing. Also Rahul Khanna in a special appearance seems wasted. However, towards the finale the film suddenly perks up.
Ayaan Mukherjee packs in a solid punch with the emotional scenes leaving you moist-eyed especially gets you all moist-eyed and the humorous ones leaving you with a smile. The music (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) is melodious and the songs don’t hamper the flow of the film. The cinematography is top notch and the camera work is clean.
Coming to the performances Ranbir Kapoor definitely stands out. He has played Sid so effortlessly proving that he is a truly gifted actor. While Konkona Sen Sharma is a natural and as usual gives a power packed performance. Not to forget the chemistry the two share is mind blowing. Anupam Kher and Supriya Pathak are a delight to watch.
On the whole, Wake Up Sid is a well-made metro-centric film that should strike a chord with the youth mainly.
The film revolves essentially around two characters - the primary being Siddhart Mehra aka Sid (Ranbir Kapoor) the lazy, carefree, spoilt rich brat whose only consensus in life happens to be partying, sleeping and hanging out with his two best buddies Rishi (Namit Das) and Laxmi (Shikha Talsania). For him life is a holiday wherein he takes his father Ram Mehra’s (Anupam Kher) wealth for granted and his hinglish speaking mother Sarita’s (Supriya Pathak) emotions are ignored. On the other hand is the career oriented, focussed and ambitious Aisha Bannerjee (Konkona Sen Sharma), an aspiring writer from Kolkata, who has come to make it big in the city of Mumbai and not Bombay to be precise. When their lives intertwine and how they make each others lives complete is what forms the basic crux of the film.
Wake up Sid follows those two very basic journeys of our youth. One of finishing graduation without any vision for the future like Sid and growing up to be a responsible person with the help of someone like Aisha. The second – like Aisha having a goal and realising that the journey of reaching there doesn’t have to be all work and can be mixed with a bit of fun thanks to Sid.
What works for the film are the brilliantly etched characters and the perfect cast. The simple story line and the way it is narrated connects with the audience immediately and for that Ayaan Mukherjee deserves all the credit. The first hour, right till the intermission, sweeps you off your feet. You get drawn into Sid's world instantaneously; you react to everything he does. But the post-interval portions slacken, courtesy the writing. Also Rahul Khanna in a special appearance seems wasted. However, towards the finale the film suddenly perks up.
Ayaan Mukherjee packs in a solid punch with the emotional scenes leaving you moist-eyed especially gets you all moist-eyed and the humorous ones leaving you with a smile. The music (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) is melodious and the songs don’t hamper the flow of the film. The cinematography is top notch and the camera work is clean.
Coming to the performances Ranbir Kapoor definitely stands out. He has played Sid so effortlessly proving that he is a truly gifted actor. While Konkona Sen Sharma is a natural and as usual gives a power packed performance. Not to forget the chemistry the two share is mind blowing. Anupam Kher and Supriya Pathak are a delight to watch.
On the whole, Wake Up Sid is a well-made metro-centric film that should strike a chord with the youth mainly.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
A poem on Female Infanticide
She is the creator,
It’s through her that life evolves.
She is a caretaker,
Thanks to her a house is a home.
She is the epitome of love,
And sacrifice, perseverance and strength.
Yet she is looked down upon,
Yet she is tortured and made to mourn,
Yet she isn’t given her worth,
Yet she is killed before her birth.
Before she sees the world around,
Before a tear can even crawl down,
Before she has taken her first step,
Before she could breathe her first breath.
She could have grown up to be someone big,
A Kiran Bedi or a Madhuri Dixit.
A child prodigy she could have become,
But she wasn’t even given that one chance.
We closed her eyes and along with it ours.
We ignored the reality and lived in beliefs of the past.
“Why burden ourselves?” Is what we thought,
When killing that tiny little tot.
Not once did we weep,
Not once did our heart bleed.
We just witnessed the merciless act
And chose to ignore the fact.
Today, the equal society we live in
Has around thousand men to pitch in.
But for every thousand of those males,
Exists only 850 females.
The number is dropping as years go by
But we just ignore it and let it pass by.
We need to wake up and see the truth
Female infanticide is still rampant, in urban areas too.
The change needs to be made, one needs to take a call
Stop killing her now or it won’t stop at all.
It’s through her that life evolves.
She is a caretaker,
Thanks to her a house is a home.
She is the epitome of love,
And sacrifice, perseverance and strength.
Yet she is looked down upon,
Yet she is tortured and made to mourn,
Yet she isn’t given her worth,
Yet she is killed before her birth.
Before she sees the world around,
Before a tear can even crawl down,
Before she has taken her first step,
Before she could breathe her first breath.
She could have grown up to be someone big,
A Kiran Bedi or a Madhuri Dixit.
A child prodigy she could have become,
But she wasn’t even given that one chance.
We closed her eyes and along with it ours.
We ignored the reality and lived in beliefs of the past.
“Why burden ourselves?” Is what we thought,
When killing that tiny little tot.
Not once did we weep,
Not once did our heart bleed.
We just witnessed the merciless act
And chose to ignore the fact.
Today, the equal society we live in
Has around thousand men to pitch in.
But for every thousand of those males,
Exists only 850 females.
The number is dropping as years go by
But we just ignore it and let it pass by.
We need to wake up and see the truth
Female infanticide is still rampant, in urban areas too.
The change needs to be made, one needs to take a call
Stop killing her now or it won’t stop at all.
Letters in the time of internet
Dear Letter,
To be quite honest, it took me a few Jane Austen novels to make me ponder about you. To remember my school days wherein one of the only ways to communicate with someone were handwritten letters and even during the initial years of the internet age, as the internet was only accessible to a privileged few.
Gone are the days when one would go scurrying to the mailbox to find letters of a loved one or impatiently stalk the postman for a much awaited reply. Now our mailboxes are only checked for bills, notices or invitations. Thanks to the internet we have even forgotten the feeling of what it is like to receive a letter. First, find letters addressed to us were normal and today if we even spot one it is received with shock and surprise. Reading those long, lengthy, descriptive letters which comprised of a whole lot of experiences of many days put together is replaced by day to day one liners through emails or status messages on social networking sites.
Sending you to someone involved a unique process all together. Selecting the kind of paper, depending on who the recipient is. Considering the ink to be used. The flow of the fountain pen and to make sure the handwriting was impeccable as it should not only be readable but it added a different sensibility all together to the word. Sitting with the dictionary to avoid those nitty-gritty errors and reading them over and over again to make sure nothing is left out and everything written is perfect. Whereas, now everything is sorted out with just a click. One right click takes care of the font which by no means resembles our own, an animation which maybe in our dreams we could not draw and corrects our errors in just one glance, which, would have otherwise been found out after three to four readings.
The ways of interaction through the internet haven’t only in a way edited our writings considerably but also deteriorated our grammar. Today for many even picking up a pen seems like an effort. Somewhere down the line even though emails and social networking sites have made us more up to date about each other’s lives, the emotion is lost. We kind of take it for granted that the other person is fine because they are actively online immaterial whether you have received an email or not. While earlier, not receiving a letter would create a sense of panic.
Even the concept of pen pals has done a disappearing act. You want an unknown friend from some faraway place, just add them on facebook or chat with them online. After all who really has the patience to find out about someone through an exchange of several letters when you can just log on to their profile and find out all about him and her, right?
Yes, the internet has made longer distances closer but it has also caused the downfall of the art of letter writing. It has made us forget about you, about reading those one page long or sometimes even longer versions of you. To be honest, how many of us have the patience to even sit through a page long email for that matter. It would be if once in a while we took the effort to send one of you or else it wont be long when we heard or read about you in old films or classic novels.
In your remembrance…..
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