Suspicion post Nov 26th

November 26, 2008 – Has it just become another date for us to reckon with? A date which we popularly call 26/11, why because it is reminiscent of 9/11 or just sounds horribly familiar?

This was the date all of us in Mumbai felt anguish, helplessness, irritability and more so self pity. Some of our most valued landmarks CST, Taj and Oberoi-Trident were attacked and that too so easily. It just took a few completely brain washed and misguided to youth to sail into our city with guns, hire a cab, enter these landmarks and scar our lives forever, taking the entire city hostage, as simple as that.

For the first few days, there was aggression, unification and a desperate want for change. However, this aggression was just till talk shows; candle lit marches and political blame games. Within a few months everything went back to what it was. The fight for the right of the “Marathi Manoos” started again – so much for us being united. Again Mumbai turned up with the most dismal voting figures. Filmmakers and channels tried to cash on this issue by carrying out short telefilms on the issue, registering film titles relevant to the film, coming out with terror based films and worst of all B grade 26/11 films like 26/11- the love story of Kasab. Yes, a love story based on one of the men who traumatised millions and has 31 crores being spent on him. Our judicial system is still as slow, like the 1993 riot report has come out sixteen years later, wonder when Kasab will finally be convicted. Our security systems are like what it was before showing equal number of lapses. To show that security has been boosted, well there have been security guards at all public places which do the most foolproof checking – opening the bag, putting their hand in the bag and removing it in less than a second and letting you proceed. They wouldn’t even know if you are carrying a penknife forget anything else.

However, there is something which has aggravated and that is suspicion and distrust. Though we all seemed unified that night and a few nights later, after that the suspicion in our minds was suddenly ignited. When we suddenly see too much of hustle bustle or many security guards, for a minute we wonder, “Is everything ok or is there a problem?” When traveling we tend to be a little more cautious and with strangers we think twice before making any kind of conversation with them especially if they are perceived to behave strangely. In fact there were some people who even cried bomb hoaxes to check on the alertness of the police. To add to the trouble are these frivolous mock drills conducted by the cops which are literally a mockery of the situation. Especially when they say that, “this will help you know what you are supposed to do when such an incident takes place again.” Seriously, our they waiting for one more? These are still minor suspicions. Unfortunately this incident has also brainwashed others into thinking that if you belong to a particular community you may as well be a terrorist also. So it’s not only youngster like Kasab who have been misguided but some of us have been misguided by their own perceptions.

I myself remember someone abruptly stopping conversation with me in the bus after getting to know that I am Muslim. However, it’s not only some people suspecting Muslim but it is vice-versa also. A lot of Muslims won’t interact with others because they believe either the opposite person will consider them as terrorists, or they consider them as “kafirs”, or they are just insecure about their own religious identity getting lost. Our media made a big hullabaloo when Shahrukh Khan was detained at the Newark Airport because of his Muslim identity, what are we doing? We have defined a religion with an interpretation of Jihad. The ironic part is we have learnt the interpretation from these brainwashed people known as terrorists.

We aren’t only suspicious about the people living in our on country but it just gets heightened when you say you are a Muslim and that too from Pakistan. Why do we forget that every Pakistani is not a Hafeez Saeed, is not a Kasab and not a Zardari? There are innocent people there who are victims as well. However, for them all we have is a culmination of suspicion and hatred. I am not saying all of us feel that way but a majority do. When you enter the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi, you will be tracked by an Indian official, at the immigration you will be asked the same question a million time “Why are you going there?” sternly and when you reach Pakistan you are asked the same question but with curiosity, after all “you are Indian so you must be hating us”.

Both ways this suspecting behaviour is just tearing us more apart than bringing us closer. We may keep saying that these terror attacks were meant to shake us up and let’s prove to them that they have failed, we are still together. However, somewhere in our minds we have been shaken up into becoming more suspicious people.

Mock Drill

While everyone has spoken about the polices reaction time and their efficiency during the mock drill conducted a few days back maybe we need to even highlight the 2 hours of grueling experience faced by some people within the Nucleus Mall.
At around 4.45pm, while we were working out at the Abs Fitness and Wellness Club, in Nucleus mall a group of officers with guns and in plains clothes entered the gym and took a look around. Though we were quite amused to see them and also a little weary of the fact that we cannot move out of the place till the drill is over, we weren’t quite tense initially as we were informed beforehand that it was a mock drill.

Then all of a sudden all of us were rounded up by the cops and told by these armed officers that we need to be taken to the Bund Garden Police Station for an identification check-up and if by any chance any of us stay back or question we will be “marked as terrorists”. So from there only the people in the gym were taken down to the road and stuffed in rickety rackety police vans – while the rest of the people in the mall and on the roads looked upon us. From there we were taken in to the police station where were made to identify ourselves. The identification process included us waiting in the police station till another police official was free to take down our names, addresses and contact numbers sans any proof to verify that we our who we truly our. After that ordeal was over we were made to walk back to the mall as they did not have free transport to take us back. On our route back it was more amusing to find cops drinking chai and chatting with each other and grinning at us and other passer bys wondering why we were made to go to the police station.
I do not have an issue with them conducting a mock drill but yes, I do have issues with the way it was conducted. Firstly, why were only we made to go to the police station and not anyone else? Well, one of the cops said because they gym was crowded well so was the rest of the mall. Secondly, how can the cops threaten anyone during a mock drill to come with them forcibly to the police station or else we will be marked as terrorists? If we knew and were informed there is going to be a mock drill it is a little difficult to believe that these cops did not. Thirdly, why were we cramped up as though we were a bunch of criminals and taken to the police station they could have easily called someone to take down are names, phone numbers and addresses in the mall itself. Fourthly, what kind of an identification check-up is this supposed to be without any identity proof? First you tell us if we don’t come you are a terrorist and then you believe our identity just by word of mouth. Lastly, why were our 2 and a half hours wasted in what could also be called a humiliating experience. If it is for our safety, well, how are we to trust our cops when one says it’s a mock drill, one says there are unwanted elements in the city so we are checking out the mall and another says because we have to check the mall as its on the hit list. Its high time they are honest at least to the people whose time they are wasting and also looking at the overweight officers who look far from fit walking around the mall asking if we think anyone looks suspicious, I don’t think we will feel safe. Next time they are conducting a mock drill maybe they should take into consideration of not wasting our time and not making civilians feel like criminals.

Film Review- Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahaani

Till now the name Prem was synonymous with one actor – Salman Khan. Well, I guess it’s time for the audience to move on because Rajkumar Santoshi has introduced for us Prem in a new avatar – Ranbir Kapoor.

Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani is about Prem a happy go lucky guy and not to forget the president of Happy Club. His motto is to be happy and to see to it that everyone around him is also happy. However, his father (Darshan Jariwalla) isn’t that happy as he feels he is wasting his time. Prem’s life is going on smoothly helping estranged lovers meet and fooling around with his co-founders of Happy Club until he bumps into Jennifer aka Jenny (Katrina Kaif). His encounter with Jenny is a riotous mix-up which leads to him falling in love with her and him trying to do everything to woo her, even if it meant going for a job. His journey to woo her will make you giggle in your seats with his antics, expressions and cheesy one liners. Especially Shammi Kapoorish dance movements during a dance party and his talk with Jesus asking for “fixing his photo” in Jenny’s heart steal the show.

However, what is a love story without a twist. Enter Rahul Challan (Upen Patel), the man who Jenny loves but cant marry because his power hungry father (Govind Namdeo) wont have him marrying a Christian especially during elections. But since Prem is our archetypical bollywood hero, he cant see his lady loves heart break and hence decided to do everything to get them together. So from pacifying a corrupt politician to saving her from a mirthful goon, Prem does everything for her till the end which is apt and logical.

The strongest part of the film is its casting barring Upen Patel who has hammed throughout the film. Darshan Jariwalla and Smita Jaykar as Prem’s parents have given impressive performances elevating the humorous scenes to another level all together. Govind Namdeo is good as a crooked politician but somehow takes away the comedy from the film. Katrina Kaif has managed to match up to Ranbir Kapoor and this time her accent complements her character. This time she has emerged from just being pretty. Ranbir Kapoor is at his best. His acting is so effortless that you cant really make out the difference between Ranbir and Prem.

After a cult film like Andaz Apna Apna, Rajkumar Santoshi doesn’t let you down but neither does he live up to the same level, though there are a few scenes which remind you of the first. The comic scenes are well executed and he has packed quite a few punches in the film though there are a few slapstick moments. The drawback of the film is the length as the film seems a bit dragged. Pritam once again pitches in with a good soundtrack which is fresh and breezy just like the film.
All together, APKGK is fresh breezy romantic comedy with a lot of peaks a few valleys and some cheesy yet cheeky humor.

A Man who understood women

During the Elizabethan era there came to light one of the world’s most renowned authors – William Shakespeare. For some he was revolutionary, for others a rebel. Sometimes he was labeled racist and sometimes homosexual. According to me he was a feminist, who believed in liberating women than just leaving them to a pedestal of pretty delicate homely creatures.

Most authors in that era were quite stereotypical in their characterization of women characters. They would more than often just be the mother, sister or wife. Their hobbies would be restricted to music, reading, cooking and perhaps gardening. Women would be portrayed as either the damsel in distress or the good tempered love interest or just the interfering mother. Gossiping about the neighbourhood would be their only work and their only consensus in life would be to get married, have babies and keep everyone happy. Basically more or less, like our saas-bahu sagas.
Like a whiff of fresh air came in Shakespeare to end these stereotypes and bring in women who were educated and liberated. He brought out their feelings of anger, jealousy, vindication, happiness, pride and love which till then only men seem to possess. He showed them to be ambitious, revengeful, deceitful, courageous and decisive which seemed to be the birth right of men alone. For majority of his plays it was the women who would drive the plot further. They would form the climax and leave an inherent trail through the story. They were more than just a doormat and lived to be more than just a piece of furniture in the house. All this was managed in a day and age where women weren’t even allowed to be a part of plays, even their characters were played by either men or transgenders.

Shakespeare’s women have always had various facets and shades to their characters. Portia from The Merchant of Venice was the cross dressing clever vixen. She has the guts and the intellect to save her husband’s best friend in a court room full of men. Then there was the shrewd Katherine from The Taming of the Shrew. Though the end was a bit contradictory, she was independent, sarcastic, egoistic and iconic. The Twelfth Night brought us to another cross dresser Viola. She was a go getter, a charmer and slightly deceitful. Not only could she make any man go weak on his knees but women too. In Loves Labour Lost, the Princess of France and her two friends actually made their lovers break their vows and fall in love with them. They beat them in intelligence and had no mercy when it came to playing practical jokes on them. Yet they kept them grounded and taught them worldly values so what if one of them was a king and two his fellow knights men. Without these ladies neither of these comedies would be the classics they were.

One of Shakespeare’s most powerful characters was Lady Macbeth. She was ambitious and determined. She believed in where there is a will there is a way even if that way meant murder. She wasn’t a traditional wife as she was manipulative, dominating and selfish. Cordelia from King Lear wasn’t your archetypical daughter. Though she doted over her father, her love wasn’t blind. She was blunt and spoke the truth even if hurt the person she loved the most. She had a mind of her own and wasn’t blinded with fake promises and money. Desdemona from Othello lived life on her own terms and beliefs. Though she had many suitors she chose the man she loved even though it disappointed her father. She was a rebel, yet found a respectable place in society.

His women were neither black nor white. It was as though Shakespeare has in depth knowledge even when women were repressed about their complexities. Though he died his characters lived on forever because they were identifiable with every generation till date though they were written 400 ears ago. So even before the feminist movements and women empowerment talks, there was a feminist – William Shakespeare.