"The Rising"

Mangala Mangala Mangala Mangala Mangala Mangala Ho!
The song stays with you long after the movie ends.
A unanimous standing ovation at the end of the movie, in the theatre hall, speaks for it's after-effects!
One of the finest story-telling endeavours in recent times; not necessarily as much towards good film-making, but more towards bringing back history and celebrating India's first independence hero. It's jolting yet true instances and issues addressed from pre-independence India of the 1800's, bring back to celluloid the stark revelation of one-man's determination, grit and patriotism. Of course it also brings forth how much we, born in independent India, take our freedom for granted.
Never the less, a must watch and a good start to an impending trilogy of India's rising!!
On a parallel note, I am currently reading M.K Gandhi's autobiography: "The story of my experiments with truth". My Gandhi quest; of trying to fathom into Gandhiji's personality and figuring out our common/ uncommon traits (We were born on the same date) started off with watching Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi". I strongly believe that people born on the same day, have to have something in common.
The two antipodal perspectives of both these heroes of the 18th century; Mangal Pandey and Gandhiji, aspiring towards the same goal of a free India, albeit with a few decades in between, form interesting cases for analysis.
The former- a violent rebel, the latter- a symbol of peace!
The former- a Hindu brahmin, the latter- a Bania Vaishnav!
The former- a celibate, the latter- a self-proclaimed lust-seeker (at first)!
The former-a soldier, the latter- a lawyer!
The former- India's first independence hero, the latter- India's last!
The former- a hardly celebrated martyr, the latter-India's most celebrated one!
The former- responsible for an army's rising, the latter- for that of the nation's!
Both- Hero's in their own might!

Happy Independence Day, India!

Blog spam??

I was very intrigued to see this comment on my last post.

Anonymous said...
Reading your blog and I figured you'd be interested in advancing your life a bit, call us at 1-206-339-5106. No tests, books or exams, easiest way to get a Bachelors, Masters, MBA, Doctorate or Ph.D in almost any field.

Totally confidential, open 24 hours a day.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Maybe my blog reflects that "my life needs to be advanced a bit," so I did call the Seattle number. Turns out it's some University offering long distance degree courses.
Not that I am planning to take any, but if I did, they would be "totally confidential" ??
Any takers?:)

Three months...

Three months is a long time...
Three months is a short time...
You can never have too much of being spoilt, taken care of or fed with delicious home-made food!
You can never have too much of travel, too much of love or too much of your parents.
You can only have too little of them, when you live seven seas away!

Here's to the three most splendid months of my life;
to three dreams that came true!
It's the end of a phase!

Just because...

Just because...
we believe in public transport,
Just because...
we refuse to drive our cars to work,
Just because...
we take the pains to wait for trains and buses,
Just because...
of our common modes of transport, we are easy targets?

It doesnt matter to us, we are back although a bit shaken,
Just because... We are the public commuters of the world!
And our everyday journeys', are our lives' biggest lessons!

- For my three urban favourites; Bombay, London, New York!

For free!

The New York Philharmonic had its second annual free concert at the Great Lawn in Central Park yesterday. As is second nature to New Yorkers, thousands flocked together for what seemed like a mass picnic. That it was a Tuesday and one of the hottest and most humid nights so far this summer, did'nt seem to matter, gauging by the 47,000 odd people on the lawn.
The young, the elderly, the gay, the straight, the animal-lover, the tourist, the local resident and many such, sat around us, right in the middle of Manhattan. Some brought their pets, others brought candles; most brought wine, cheese and champagne; all brought bedsheets to sprawl out on.
Accompaniments to the symphony of Dvorak were; the almost full moon, with yellow streaks, shining right on our faces; the glittering specks of the midtown skyline peering over the thick green deciduous foliage of the park; the swaying balloons and pom-poms hanging high over people's heads; the stark silence amidst the large crowd when the musicians played and the thundering applause after each symphony. Various elements, some natural, some man-made, worked synchronously to produce a night of delight, topped with fireworks at the end of the show.
A personal moment of bliss: lying with my head on mom's lap, in the middle of the park, in the middle of one of my favourite cities, gazing away at the moon, with live music in the background!
Some of the best things in life, most certainly come for free!

London

Another love,
another series of blasts,
another heart-ache!