Year End Comparison - RNBDJ Vs Ghajini

What kind of stupidity is this? Comparing Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (RNBDJ) and Ghajini? Where is the connection? Both are different type of movies - completely different genres, story, heroes, style, narration. One is 'Ghar Ka Khana' and another is 'Feast with all masala'. You will compare just because they got released in the same month and you managed to watch them both? What the hell is that?

Yes, I understand your concerns. But let me tell you, irrespective of its differences, there are few similarities in the movie - Let me explore them in this post:

• Memory Loss Effect: In Ghajini, it's apparant - Sanjay (Aamir Khan) suffers from Short-term memory loss. In Rab Ne, it's very subtle - The girl Tanni (Anuksha Sharma) suffers from permanant memory loss - yes, someone who can't remember her husband's voice or face
  
• Terrorizing fights Effect: In both the movies the heroes fight difficult villains. The fights are way too violent and terrorizing. In Rab Ne, it's a humungous and gross sumo fighter who is made to fall on the floor in a single flow and in Ghajini, with a single blow, he makes everyone hurl and fall on the floor.
• The Duality Effect: In both movies, there are 2 different versions of the same person. The girls in both movies get deceived of the true identity
• "Shake Shake" Effect: (Courtesy: McDonald's commercial) The heroes shiver and shake in both movies. Suri (Sharukh) in his usual style makes his hands, lips, face and entire body shake, shiver trying to deliver very emotional dialogues (Yes, girls went crazy and shed the tears whose magnitude could solve the water problem in India). Sanjay was shaking his head vigorously frequently (yes, camera man / editor had to do it so that people can understand that he's getting confused and not remembering anything)
• Old Daddy Effect: The heroes get to romance with girls of their daughters' age, some call it grand-daugther. (I can hear my N.Indian friends saying "what the heck? Your southie heroes romance with great grand daughters" :P) But it's good fun watching them - Tremendous effort from both given their age
  
• Pani Puri Effect: Did you notice? Both the heriones take heroes to pani puri shop
• Girly-2-wheeler Effect: Yes, the guys had to sit behind the girls in the two-wheeler tricks, chases and stunts
• Lady Teacher Effect: The girls teach the heroes. Tanni teaches Raj to dance. Kalpana teaches Sachin (Aamir) to act.

This list is just indicative - We can go on just like this. Let me conclude with the last, both movies managed to have a good paisa vasool, bring smile to the producers (though it's not guaranteed for viewers) - ultimately, that's what matters no?

Ashtavakra Gita

Came across Ashtavakra Gita. It's supposed to be the conversation between Rishi Ashtavakra (Yes, he is the one who listened to Vedas from his mom's womb as per mythology) and King Janaka - containing some of the core teachings of Vedanta in a lucid manner. A bit abstract, but really short and sweet. Some seems too Impractical and Instructional, but still worth giving it a try since some of them are truly Insightful. Don't ask me more about it - Like you, I am pretty new to these.

Some excerpts from the poetic translation:

To be free,
shun the experiences of the senses
like poison.
Turn your attention to
forgiveness, sincerity, kindness, simplicity, truth.

A single understanding:
'I am the One Awareness,'
consumes all suffering
in the fire of an instant.
Be happy.
You are unbounded Awareness'
Bliss, Supreme Bliss

He who is unattached,
untouched by opposites,
free of desire,
experiences neither pleasure nor pain
as events pass through.

When there is no 'I'
there is only liberation.
When 'I' appears
bondage appears with it.
Knowing this,
it is effortless to refrain
from accepting and rejecting.

Realize Self in All and All in Self.
Be free of personal identity
and the sense of 'mine.'
Be happy.

One who abhors sense objects avoids them.
One who desires them becomes ensnared.
One who neither abhors nor desires
is neither detached nor attached.

The great soul
remains poised and undisturbed,
whether in the presence
of a passionate woman
or observing the approach of his death.
He is truly free.

One who knows Self,
whose mind is serene and spotless,
does not desire to give up anything,
nor does he miss what is not there.

Having had enough
of the endless workings of the mind,
the wise one comes to rest.
He neither thinks, nor knows,
nor hears, nor sees.

The mind of the liberated one
is neither troubled nor pleased.
It is actionless, motionless, desireless
and free of doubt.

The liberated one
does not exert effort
to meditate or act.
Action and meditation just happen.

Depending on nothing,
one finds happiness.
Depending on nothing,
one attains the Supreme.
Depending on nothing,
one passes through tranquility
to One Self.

When one realizes
he is neither the actor
nor the one who watches,
the mind-storm is stilled.

In short, the great soul
who has realized Truth
is free of desire, enjoyment and liberation.
In all of space and time
he is attached to nothing.

Goals

We are getting to the end of an eventful year. Every news paper and news channel is busy with covering 2008 - Terror attacks, Economic turmoil, Olympics & Cricket everywhere. People would be ranking whether the year was personally a blockbuster or mediocre or disaster. Few would be working on resolutions for 2009. That stuck me to think on its remote cousin know as "Goals". To be more specific, I was thinking whether one should have goals or not. If you feel "What a silly question - If you want, have it, otherwise leave it. What's there to think about it?", you are not far - closer to how I might conclude. ;)

First, coming to "why this question?" I believe answering this question could fundamentally change the way we live our lives. I think there are 2 different ways of living: (1) Take life as it comes (2) Have goals and constantly strive to achieve that. A bit of clarification here: Under #1, there are 2 sub-categories: (1a) Be open to opportunities that life may throw at you and give your 100% (1b) Be a lazy irresponsible bum. Obviously, (1b) is out of any discussion here. The fight is really between #1a and #2. In some sense, it's like the classic fight between Fate (call it Karma / God / Luck / Fortune / Universal plan) and Intelligence. Supporters of Fate say 'Everything has been planned out in detail for you - You just execute it honestly'. Advocates of Intelligence believe, ‘It is stupid to think that someone decides your destiny. You and you alone plan and execute everything.’

Let me take my personal example. Some of you, who know me, would be surprised on why I talk about Fate, since I 'come across' as an ambitious person. (Looks can be deceiving ;)) Let me tell you, my best of, what they call, 'achievements' happened not by absolute planning and meticulous execution - but more through opportunities and by enjoying what I was doing. On the other hand, there are many instances where I had set the goal "A", but ended up getting "B" - Too many examples in this category: Targeted IIT, but went to CEG; Yearned for top US Schools, but worked for Trilogy; Envisioned to be a great coder, but excelled in management and the IIM gates opened (literally got B over A here!) Thought I would die for this one girl, but was reborn anew. Similar story with job. But on hindsight, I think it is best that B has happened to me than A – E.g. Had I got what I initially targeted for, I wouldn't have experienced the great life of Trilogy and eventually an exciting career in India. Thanks the entire Bs! Some of the happiest days of my life had been when I took life as it is - giving 100% to whatever opportunity that pops up. So, as I see, there are 2 issues with setting goal:

• Figuring out what is the right set of goals for oneself – Most people say 1000 things on what their dad / kid should do, but can’t go beyond half a dozen when it’s intended for them – typical conversations like “I really don’t know what’s good for me”, “will I be able to do this”, “this is not for me”. Or that people become too greedy and end up setting too ambitious goals which don’t make much sense later
• Second, we forget about living the life when the focus shifts solely on the final objective - it's like a mirage - you constantly run behind something - there is never an end to it.

Let's now take a U-turn to explore the other side.

From childhood, we have been encouraged to have goals / ambitions and almost all motivational books suggest us having goals – Don’t think so many people can be collective idiots. Tam saint Thiruvalluvar says Ulluvathallam Uyarvullal (Means “Think Big” – oh, nice caption for Mr. Anil Ambani!). They say aim at star to shoot at the sky and fortune favors the brave. Going back to my personal examples: Who knows, I got "B" just because I tried for "A" and / or that I didn’t give my 100% for A. Also, it might be short-sighted to architect our lives just based on past. Life is like a stock market - one can't predict tomorrow based on yesterday - Everyday is new. Apart from my personal example, I think there are few reasons why it makes sense for everyone to have goals:

• Goals help one to stretch himself.. to bring out his best. So, if not for personal reasons, goals might be good for the progress of the society at large. Many people who made great discoveries and improvements had a great vision or an ambition.
• Goals are somehow related to one's personal, professional, financial or societal developments. So, it's difficult to skip them - You need to have goals, unless your goal is not to have goals.
• By nature, human beings are desirous (if not greedy), want their ego to be satisfied, want recognition (both self & others), need a sense of contribution / doing work, prefer being in control of their lives - Having goals could tie all these.
• For many people, though having goals may not be the best way to go about, there is no other better way - Life is not generous enough to always throw things at us - not having goals or aspirations could lead to boredom, desperation and frustration. For most people, life could be difficult and clueless without proper direction in the form of goals.

Ok, do all these mean we have no other choice but have goals? Of course, NOT. It all finally boils down to our values and how we want to live our lives. In fact, most people spend more than half of their lives trying to figure out what life really means. I think life is nothing more than what we say it IS. If one says life is all about "Peace", he can choose to not have goals and be content with whatever he has. If you define it as "Success", have tones of goals and go about accomplishing them all. If life is all about "Happiness" - It's a mixed bag - some people are happy about doing something, for others, it's doing nothing. The list can go on. Just would conclude with 2 points (a) We can do whatever we want, unless we regret later in our life for doing / not-doing something (b) One can keep an eye in the destiny, but still enjoy the treasures and pressures during the journey.

So, are you going to have goals? Irrespective of whether you are have it or not, have an awesome year ahead. :)

Mumbai - A week of transformation!

Mumbai. What a transformation within a week! From a passive, helpless city TO an active, WE-CAN-attitude city. The leader-less, organization-less, promotion-less pure-citizen-based initiative of yesterday - mobilization of thousands of people near the Gate way of India - with people expressing their views - It was simply electrifying to be part of the crowd.

Like most others, I also felt it was just an emotional pouring or a spam, when I first got a random SMS from a friend last Sunday. But it was totally IN-ACTION yesterday. People shouting to their core - "Bharat Maatha Ki.. Jai", "Vande... Mataram..", "We want... Action" etc. The environment of huge mobs carrying posters ranging from "Enough is enough", "A'chut'han", "Vote for 49'o", "We want justice", "No Security, No Tax" etc. Flaunting the tri-color flags was scintillating. I wrote and carried a A3 poster with my favorite phrase "ONE India". We didn't forget to sing our national anthem with atmost sincerity. I could imagine how the freedom fighters would have felt!

Till yesterday, I used to wonder whether people protesting like this could make any REAL difference - Yes, people make their point - it also looks good to say to your friends that you have participated in it - that's it - everyone would go back to normalcy after a week. BUT yesterday definitely gave a different HOPE. The rage people showed on politicians - the way they are becoming aware of things happening around them - the way they call others for action - the way they get into action - all are really promising. If not great leaders emerging out of it, they are getting prudent enough to chuck ch**** out of the system. The politicians can't take it for granted that people are dolls who will just dance to regionalism / ideologies OR dogs which will run for the bone they throw. People want Justice, they want Change, they want their Tax to be used properly, they want Security, they want a Justification of the official post. And most importantly, they didn't just stop at asking what the politicians can do for the country, they discussed what they can do for the country. That is REAL difference.

The other day, my friend referred this long but thoughtful article on why poor countries are poor. In line with that article, no doubt our politicians have a played a major role in keeping this country in a pitiful state irrespective of its great resources. Hello... Our dear politicians, please Jaago Re. We have woken up - You can't keep cheating us! If we make a mistake in electing a wrong person - we shall throw him out and find a new person. In a country of 1.2 billion people, we are not short of leaders! Hey Joker, if you can't truly deliver what you promised, make way for others! These thoughts were reflected in the entire crowd.

Before I conclude this post, I just wanted some concrete ideas for a cause. It was great to sing the national anthem together in a group - Reminds us of our nation and our patriotic feelings - Reassures that we are ONE India! Mumbai does a great deal by having the national anthem played (in screen) in theaters before a movie - ensuring that we think of the nation at least for 0.8% of time we spend on the movie. In fact, I was so happy looking at the level of respect Mumbaikars give when it's being played - standing still, either singing or remaining silent. It's definitely a great deal. Now, the question is: How can it be done nationally?

Yes, I was told, it used to be played in theaters earlier, but was stopped after the reasoning that people are not respecting it properly - Seems like they reasoned it "Better to not have it than disrespecting it". Yes, point taken. But that's not a solution - it's like "When people don't follow the traffic rules, I will remove all traffic signals" - My comparison may sound extreme - But the point is simple: For anything and everything, there will be some dissidents. Why care about them? Think of the positive impact it could have. Even if it's one person, it's worth it. I also presume people's attention would go up with the latest inspiring visuals in big screens (yes, thanks Bharatbala).

Ok, let me come to the action part. It can be made possible in 2 ways - make it mandatory (through Government) OR inspire the theater owners to take action. Yes, the second solution may not be very sustainable in long term. But in any case, to make it happen, we need the buy-in of all the stake-holders: Government - State & Central, Theater owners and People. Few quick top-of-the-mind ideas. If you have any ideas / suggestions to make it happen, please comment.

• Theater owners: Target cities first - the multiplexes are more organized - Few owners to target - Through the top management or its board of directors, try to influence companies like INOX, Adlabs and PVR. Even if one makes its mandatory in ALL its screens in ALL cities (Yes, it will get a good PR for the Co. for doing it), others will follow it. Pretty soon, I believe, small theaters would follow - Not doing it would be not just a lack of respect for the nation, but the fact of being left out of the big league.
• People: Media can play a huge role in it. Some NGOs and volunteers can chip-in to create awareness.
• Government: Yes, Government Ji, if you implement it, i'm sure you can put it in your "List of achievements". But how can we influence you to do it? But.. Please don't tell us we need to BRIBE you!

Will post an update when I make that difference.